Fight for Darkness
by Amethyst Dzarich
Summary: MK was mysteriously shrunk as an infant and found by Mandrake to be raised amongst the Boggans. Now older, she has become a fully-trained warrior and is ready to fight the evil Leafmen. What will happen when she has her first battle, and where will things go from there? Rated T because I'm paranoid (I know you see that a lot..)
1. Found

**So, this is my first ever fanfic and I wanted to do it on Epic because it was basically my first major animated movie obsession. Now some of the characters may seem a little OOC but believe me when I tell you I have my reasons. Reviews are appreciated, no flames please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Epic or its characters, Blue Sky Studios, Chris Wedge, & William Joyce do. I got the idea for this story after reading Intertwined by teecee. BlackLemonJuice on Devianart also did some art for the story, so thanks!**

**This fanfic is dedicated to teeceecee and BlackLemonJuice **

* * *

Prolouge~Found

( Mandrake's POV )

I was taking my usual midnight stroll by the edge of our borders, admiring our rot yet wishing that it could spread beyond the limits the Leafmen and their Queen put. Wrathwood hadn't been an empire since my ancestor, Mandragora ruled over our decayed kingdom. However the empire had crumbled when the first Queen of Moonhaven had been chosen thus restoring life to the forest and erasing all of Mandragora's hard work.

Shaking these thoughts from my head, I had always promised my father that I would be leading the generation that brought back this mighty empire to make him proud. I gave a small smile at the memory of my father but quickly shook it off when I remembered what the Leafmen had done to him. Jumping from rotten branch to rotten branch I made my way around the perimeter of our borders and looked upon the disgusting growth coming from the other side.

The small island of rot we called home was feeling smaller and smaller every day it seemed. All in the name of balance, but I was getting sick of balance and wanted more of the forest to be covered in our decay. The current Queen had tried to convince me that the growth was better for the forest and she almost ended up with one of my arrows in her back. It was getting late anyhow and I was secretly concerning myself with problems for tomorrow.

I began to turn away to head back to the home tree (more of a stump really..) but stopped when I heard a cry from afar. Setting a poison arrow in my bow, I cautiously stepped over the border and made my way towards the source of the sound. Moving aside a hideous green leaf I saw a small child, a little girl a few years younger than my own son Dagda. Lowering my bow, I was about to approach her until I suddenly noticed that she looked a lot like a jinn child.

Upon further inspection however you could see the clothes she wore were not green and earthy smelling, but strange and foreign. A blue nightdress with a crown on it and the words "Princess" were written and I couldn't help but think this might be a Leafman trick of some sort. Then I heard voices, slow and mumbled but voices nonetheless arguing with each other.

Stompers always talked so slow that you had to slow down your hearing to understand them. It was hard to distinguish much of what they were saying and all I could make out was...

"Mary Katherine"

I looked back at the child and recoiled in terror when I realized that she could possibly be a Stomper. Her strange clothes, her unatural smell, and Stompers wandering around in the middle of the night, it had to be true. The real question was, why was she the size of a jinn? However when she laughed and giggled at a small beetle crawling on the dirt ground I knew that she wasn't a real threat, at least not yet anyhow.

Approaching her and squatting so that I was at her level, I grabbed a nearby leaf off of the ground and then grabbed a wilted leaf from off of my bat cloak that I hadn't noticed earlier. I gave them both to her to see her reaction to the two leaves and smiled in delight when she used her small hands to rip apart the green leaf and look curiously at the grey one.

I gingerly picked her up from the ground and smiled when she started flapping the decayed leaf around like a little flag, not at all reluctant to me carrying her. Swiftly making my way back to the safety of Wrathwood I entered the home tree and made my way to the throne room. On my way, Boggans saluted me and bowed respectfully although most hesitated when they saw the jinn-looking child in my arms.

When I finally arrived, I went through a door at the back of the throne room and entered the large complex that I had lived in ever since I was a little Boggan. An anxious cheery voice greeted me the moment I walked in.

"Hey daddy! Where have you been all night? Were you out fighting more Leafmen? Or were you taming some bats? Maybe you were training the new rook-"

His chattering came to a complete a utter stop when he noticed the little Stomper in my arms. I put the girl down and she crawled over to Dagda to play with the edge of his small mole cloak.

"Who's that daddy? Is it a jinn? Where'd she come from?"

Over the years Dagda's curiousity had grown to the point where I sent termites to steal bits and pieces from the Rings of Knowledge. Still his questions were endless and he kept looking for better ways to improve life for the Boggans. Well, for once I'd be able to answer all of his questions. As well as the question of my own on what I should do with the child.

"This is a Stomper child named, Mary Katherine I believe. I do not know why but she was apparently shrunk by some kind of mysterious magic. I found her in the woods a few steps over the border. I'm..thinking we should take care of her for now she may be of use to us someday."

Dagda looked at me as though I had ants crawling out of my ears and for a moment I held my breath waiting for his reaction. Suprisingly enough, he simply jumped up and down waving his hands around grabbing Mary Katherine's small hands and spinning her around the room. Laughing all the while.

"You know what this means Mary Katherine? We're going to be siblings! I've always wanted a little sister!"

I quietly let out a sigh of relief, pleased that he wasn't against Mary Katherine or my idea of taking her in. Dagda stopped spinning and jumping and placed Mary Katherine on a chair.

"You know what Mary Katherine? You need a nickname! I'll call you..."

He sat down himself and scrunched up his eyebrows with his hand scratching his head stuck in thought. I rolled my eyes a little at his silly concentrated expression but quickly went back to neutral and serious when he turned to Mary Katherine and snapped his fingers.

"M.K! I'll call you M.K. Ok?"

Mary Kath-I mean, M.K gurgled in agreement and started making incoherent noises and sounds to express her happiness. Dagda continued to run around the room celebrating his new companion until he yawned tiredly, so I led him to his room and tucked him in bed with his small moss-stuffed crow toy. I then in turn picked up M.K and took her to my room where Dagda's old cradle still sat untouched from when he was just a little larva.

Setting her down in it and checking to make sure the blankets were soft enough and the moss pillows weren't hard, I then slowly crept away to my own bed. After laying down in my own crow feather-filled matress I drifted off to sleep, a scheme to finally avenge my father bubbling in my brain. Gears were turning and I was certain M.K would be able to put my plan into motion with her innocent jinn-like appearance.

Waking up in the morning, I gathered my Boggan soldiers in the training room for my announcement. I told them of M.K, the Stompers, my plot to destroy the Leafmen, and I even quoted Mandragora from the famous speech given long ago. The Boggans supported my choice to raise M.K and they agreed to do as much as they could to make sure she never went past the borders or was seen by Leafmen.

While she was growing up, Mandrake ensured that she learned everything there was to know about the Boggan history and the Leafmen that "hunted" them. Dagda taught her how to ride a crow and later, a bat whilst I trained her in swordsmanship and archery. I created a Boggan-like mask for her to wear if she ever went outside, for I didn't want her to be spotted by Leafmen scum and taken to their kingdom of Moonhaven.

Soon after, she became a real part of our family and we all had shared interests in battle strategies and weaponry as well as our hatred of Leafmen and the Queen of Moonhaven. Over time, I myself grew bitter and cynical due to our battle against the Leafmen remaining in a neutral position. However I would never let this constant battle get me down.

M.K and Dagda were my children, but they were also my generals as well as best friends themselves. Growing up, I didn't dare tell M.K who she truly was and kept it a secret but I did know that someday it would all come spilling out like water breaking free from a dam. Until then however, I was determined to keep M.K away and hidden from the rest of the forest which would prove to be a difficult feat as she grew older.

* * *

**Okay, so I know you think Mandrake is pretty OCC right now. What with being nice and caring about others. Well in the movie, you could see that he had a good healthy relationship with his son and genuinely cared about him and was proud that he shared the same interest in destroying the forest with him (as evil as that may sound..). They had what you may say was the only strong "parent-child" relationship in the movie. So Mandrake seems different now because he hasn't yet gone through 16 years of trying and failing to destroy the forest WHILE battling Leafmen. So when present time comes, he'll be more "in character" but you'll see he acts softer towards Dagda & M.K. Mandragora is Mandrake's ancestor, gender is not specified and you can decide if you think the ruler of the Rotten Empire was a male or female, doesn't matter to me.**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	2. Scouting & Planning

**So I have a personal headcannon that the Jinn live 10x faster than humans, so 100 years to them is actually only ten years to us. The reason Bomba said 100 years in the movie, is because he is living by Jinn time (Hence why he didn't remember M.K was coming). Thank you for the reviewing/favoriting/following this story, it makes me feel so happy!**

* * *

_~ 16 Years Later ( 160 Jinn Years ) ~_

(M.K's POV)

"Dagda! You're back already?"

I practically leaped out of my small throne made of delicately carved grey wood and ran over to see my big brother. Immediatly regaining my composure, I straightened up and gave him a respectful salute which he returned with a smile. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could, father entered the room and Dagda stood respectfully ready to give his usual status report.

"We had a little skirmish with some Leafmen this morning. A rat got caught in the crossfire so I got a new coat."

Turning a little to show that he indeed was wearing the skin of a rat on his back and I couldn't help but feel happy for him. He had always wanted a long cloak like father's and he had finally gotten his wish.

"It's, uh..just like yours!"

However father seemed preoccupied today and didn't even turn his back to look at Dagda.

"Did you find the location of their ceremony?"

Dagda straightened up even more, trying to appear more serious and mature in front of Mandrake.

"Well, er-uh..Yes sir! It's way out of our boundrie-"

"You mean their boundries?"

Father cut Dagda off and turned to face him with a frown on his face and one of his "I'm sick of balance" speeches on the tip of his tongue. I guess father always had been a bit predictable to me, despite Dagda having a closer bond with him.

"Does the Queen really think that she can surround our beautiful island of rot within this hideous forest?"

"So..arrogant!" Dagda tried to seem interested in father's usual speech but when his back was turned, Dagda began mouthing the words that came out of Mandrake's mouth. I stifled a laugh until I realized what was coming up.

Oh boy. Here it comes...

"No matter how much of the forest we destroy, the queen regrows it back with a wave of her hand. All in the name of balance? I'm sick of balance!"

Dagda stammered to come up with a response that would make father proud of his "enthusiasm". "Sh-she-she needs to be cut down! At the root!" Mandrake chuckled evilly, "That's right. That is why it's so important to find the location of their ceremony and take the pod."

"Huh?" Well, Dagda was officially lost. While he was a supportive general and was good with training the new recruits, he almost never kept up with strategies and planning, he always said that was my field.

"If the queen dies without an heir. The Leafmen, can't regrow anything. Leaving us, rulers of a desperate, desecrated kingdom."

While explaining, Mandrake took his staff and dipped it in the rotten liquid pool, leaving some of it behind on his staff which he then proceeded to use to rot a leaf. The rot traveled along the long vine-like stem of the lead, eventually finishing off at a large leaf, rotting it and turning it into the poisonous arrows we used.

"I won't let you down!" Dagda looked as serious as he could be, before sheepishly adding, "Dad!"

Father simply smiled at him and was even thoughtful enough to compliment Dagda's new coat. "You look good in rat. It's..slimming." Dagda smiled as father walked away and then turned to me. I straightened up, as I had been relaxed and had been unwittingly slouching.

"Are you ready for this?"

I pulled my twin katanas from their place on my belt and flipped them into the air before catching them and holding them in an X formation. "I'm always ready." He crossed his arms and gave me a smug smile looking me up and down. "Are you sure about that? 'Cause I wouldn't attend a scouting mission looking like...that."

Looking at my outfit, I gasped in shock and then blushed furiously while Dagda was lauging his head off. I had just gotten up and was wearing my nightclothes which consisted of a grey T-shirt, black shorts, as well as some small moss slippers. "On second thought, I think I'm going to change.."

Before I could hear his response, I was already leaping off to my room in the back of the "main room" and shutting the door. Walking over to my closet, I opened it and pulled out my newly made short dark brownish-grey dress that was torn and rotted at the ends. Styling my hair into a ponytail, I wrapped my short shrew cloak around my shoulders and slipped on my frog-skin boots and tightening my sword belt.

By the time I was ready, I looked out of the window and could see Dagda forming a small platoon of Boggans. I whistled and grabbing my bow with my quiver of arrows, before jumping out of my window, landing on my own crow whom I had named Ebony. "Dagda! I'm over here!"

He looked over when he heard my voice and steered his crow so that it landed by mine as I mounted Ebony. "Took you long enough M.K!" He teased me and I gave him a light punch in the gut and he pretended to be hurt. "Ow! I'm hit! I'm hit! Tell father, I died with honor!" He then rolled off of his crow and fell on the ground dramatically, sticking out his tounge and twitching his eye. I dismounted.

Okay, now he's just milking it. I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"Dag! Don't even joke about getting killed, hundreds of Boggans die every battle we have. Besides, I thought you were supposed to be the older mature sibling." I shifted my weight onto one leg and crossed my arms looking down at him and he simply childishly stuck his tounge at me. "Aww! You're no fun!"

I looked around to make sure no one was watching when I tapped his shoulder and quickly mounted Ebony again. "You're it!" Was the last thing that left my mouth as I sped off into the forest with the other Boggans following my lead and taking off.

"So. Not. Fair!"

Urging my crow to go faster, I dared look over my shoulder to see Dagda giving pursuit until he disappeared into the leaves. I kept alert and continued to look around for Dagda until I finally saw his crow sitting on a branch. Quietly making my way over, I jumped from Ebony at the last second and landed on the branch to see Dagda put up a finger in front of his mouth in a shushing motion.

I looked over to my left to see some Leafmen whispering amongst each other, presumably about their upcoming ceremony later in the day. "What if the Boggans find out the location of the ceremony Colt?" A young brunette Leafwoman inquired to the older-looking man with a white beard. "They won't Lily, and even if they do we'll be prepared to take them."

We continued to watch them in silence with the other Boggans keeping an eye out for any more Leafmen patrol groups. Scouting wasn't that bad I guess but father wouldn't allow me to go into battle, something about me being taken away by the Leafmen or something.

After a few more minutes, we returned to Wrathwood where father was having a private meeting with several of the highest-ranking Boggan Generals.

"What do you suppose they're talking about, Dag?"

I looked over and saw him with his ear against the door, trying to catch snippets of the conversation from the other side of the door. "Get away from there! If father catches you snooping-" But it was too late. The doors opened up and Dagda fell into the room with me standing stoicly behind him preparing to defend his snooping.

However no one questioned him and simply walked around him on the way out of the room. Father exited last with an evil smile on his face. "We have decided what we are going to do." I leaned forward a bit, curious to hear the genius plan that had taken two hours to think of.

"We are to hide on a tree near the location of the ceremony and then, when their ceremony is almost over. We strike! They won't be expecting this which gives us an advantage."

I pondered the genius plan and found only one flaw. "How will we "hide" ourselves. No offense, but Leafmen can spot Boggans from twenty feet away without hesitation."

"Oh, I've already got that taken care of, but good observation pointing that out." Father praised my genius before walking off to our large apartment. I helped Dagda up off of the floor and we went to go train some of the new recruits before the invasion began.

We wanted-No, needed to be ready.

Nothing could possibly go wrong.

* * *

**Okay, this chapter is a bit shorter, but only cause I'm so excited to get to the Invasion! Yes, I am lacking a few major details but heck, the devil is in the details! There is a small bit of foreshadowing here for the next few chapters to follow. I'll try to update in a few more days if school will cooperate with me (which it usually does ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed see ya later!**

**§~ Amethyst ~§**


	3. The Invasion

**Yay! Another chapter. Now we are going to have some of Nod's point of view, however he and M.K will not interact quite yet. There are a few small time jumps in this chap., but other than that, everything is pretty straightforward-ish. Anywho, chapter 3!**

* * *

( Nod's POV )

"What you're mad? You told me to get back and I'm back. On this."

I gestured to the old sparrow that I had rode to get back here to Moonhaven with the make-shift saddle on her back. Ronin simply frowned at me, "And you want credit for that? Get a real bird and get back in your group." He turned to walk away, but I had other ideas.

"You know what? **No**."

He stopped and spun around and looked at me as if I had bees coming out of my ears. "What did you say?" It was finally time to let his know what he needed to hear, from my perspective. "No. I'm not a kid anymore and I'm tired of you treating me like one." Now he was getting angry, I could tell the way he shifted his jaw into his signature scowl.

"I'm trying to help you." He then fiercely whispered the next part, "I'm trying to look out for you!" I rolled my eyes at him. "I never asked you to do that!" He backed off a bit and looked down, a flash of pain in his eyes before he spoke again. "Your father did." For a moment, I was reminded of how my father and Ronin had been the best of friends, ever since they were little kids.

My father had supported my choice of becoming a Leafman and Ronin encouraged it to the point of dragging me to Rookie-Training. Me being a Leafman is what Ronin wanted, but this is my life and I should be free to make my own descisions.

"Well, you can stop. I relieve you of the duty of the raising of young Nod."

I started to walk back toward my bird, whom I had decided right then and there to name Willow. "Do-don't walk away from me! I'm your commanding officer!" I simply rolled my eyes before jumping onto Willow. "Not anymore." I adjusted my feet into the stirrups and flicked the reins. "I quit!"

Willow immediatly took off and I had to make sure that she didn't throw me off. "Whoa! Easy girl, easy!" After a few minutes of flying, she was doing pretty well and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at my achievement of taming and riding a bird that wasn't the familiar green hummingbird of the Leafmen.

No. I needed to get them off of my mind. One thought passed my mind as I flew deeper and deeper into the woods, "What do I do now?" Then I remembered a toad named Bufo was looking for some new riders to compete in his Bird Races, I was a pretty good rider myself, I'd fit in just fine.

I made a sharp right turn to head towards the Meadows where the races were held daily and the Jinn bet on the best riders.

Yeah. The bird races.

* * *

( M.K's POV )

We arrived earlier than the Leafmen at the pond full of lotus pods, picked a large tree and rotted away most of the bark. The bark fell off and became shields for all of the soldiers that were to hide there until Mandrake gave the signal or until the Leafmen found us out. While the soldiers were hiding under their bark shields, Dagda, Mandrake, and I were waiting on our crows in the higher branches.

"Isn't this exciting M.K? The Leafmen are practically walking right into our trap!" I laughed at his enthusiasm on the battlefield and then looked at father who had on a stoic expression, looking through the leaves to see when the Leafmen would arrive. "Of course it is Dagda. Besides, this is only my first battle and I don't think it will also be my last." I was sure to enunciate the last words in my sentence, hoping they would reach fathers ears.

I had been training my whole life to get to this point in a Boggan Warrior's life, but I still had been denied my first battle. Until today that is. I was hoping to make father proud and not regret his decision in bringing me along for the ride. "Shh!" He suddenly silenced me and Dagda before pulling aside the leaf he was looking behind enough for us to see an extravagant parade of hummingbirds and dragonflies.

I grabbed my familiar grey Boggan mask out of my satchel and placed it on my face and tying my boots with moss string, I didn't care whether it was tied into a neat bow or a sloppy knot. Father had gave me the mask when I was little and told me I must always wear it when I go out in case the Leafmen see my face.

"Haha. Right on time." Father quietly whispered.

Honestly. If they wanted to keep their Pod Ceremonies so hush-hush, why in the name of Mandragora would they make it such a big thing. A large float made of lily pads, suspended by dragonflies made its way to the pond, where it settled down in the water. I saw the evil queen make her way across the pond using small round pieces of foliage to keep her from falling into the water.

She was actually very lovely and not the evil scary monster father had made her out to be. He had told me that the Queen of Moonhaven recieved powers from the previous queens that allowed them to make nature their slave. Some abused the power and tried to swing the balance of growth and rot in their favor, reducing the amount of forest we had to live in.

I watched her as she started talking to some weird slugs and picking up a small lotus pod, lifting it into the sunshine. On a a tree over and a few branches down, I saw a Leafman with a white vest, Ronin, father had always told me to beware the leader of the Leafmen. He swiftly turned towards out tree and fired an arrow into the side of the tree.

Watching, a mosquito-Boggan's shield fell to the ground and he followed after it with an arrow in his chest.

Now the battle would begin.

In awe, I was amazed at the Boggan's coordination when they leaped from the tree, holding their shields of bark and making their way down the tree. "Follow me!" Mandrake's crow took off and Dagda and I followed him to another far-off branch where we landed. The soldiers had managed to disable the Queens barge so she was forced to run through the forest, giving us a huge advantage.

Dagda looked upon the scene in front of him with a bit of anger and shock, ranting about the plan. "We had numbers, and we had the suprise part! How are we losing?" Father simply gave Dagda a calm smile and encouraging words to end his mini-rant. "Patience son, the forest wasn't grown in a day."

He looked up at father. "B-but we can destroy it in one! Right?" Giving a loud chuckle he showed his sharp yellow teeth and gave Dagda a proud look. "That's the spirit! You two take the pod, and I'll take the queen." We all took off from the branch in sync and flew high into the air when I saw the plants all bending themselves to help the queen escape the ground.

She jumped into the air and for a second, I though she might fall, until I saw a small hummingbird catch her. I grabbed my bow and loaded it with a poison arrow, aiming it for the queen's head. It narrowly missed and the Leafman General started shooting arrows back, eventually grabbing one of Dagda's in midair and sending it back.

Things moved in slow motion when Dagda was hit in the chest and fell off of his crow, slowly descending to the ground. "Dagda!" I flew my crow down after him in an attempt to catch him before he fell to the ground. Father soon followed after my lead, yelling "Son! No!" He had shot one last arrow before he aimed his crow for the forest floor.

I caught him a few feet from the ground and held him in my arms, crying into his rat skin coat. Father ran over to us as soon as we landed and cradled Dagda in his arms, rocking him back and forth. I removed my mask and let him see my tears dor him and he gave me a small smile before looking at father.

"You have to defeat the Leafmen now. You just have to!"

Just like that, he closed his eyes and breathed his last breath before disintegrating into nothing but bones and ash, which the wind quickly blew away. I grabbed his rat coat, gathered his bones and put them in a neat pile on the coat. The Boggan soldiers looked down at the remains of Dagda and offered their condolences to father.

Leafmen and Jinn always made us Boggans out to be heartless, but truly, we had as much heart as anyone. Father used his staff and rotted a hole through a tree, for which he gingerly picked up Dagda's remains in the rat cloak and put them in the hole. I didn't even notice that I was still crying when father hugged me and told me with a stern-look that I needed to be strong for Dagda and help fulfill his final dying wish.

"I need some time to myself!" I ran away from the crowd of Boggans and onto Ebony who I urged to fly away. We were practically on the other side of the forest and in the Meadows when I realized where I was. Wiping away the tears that had begun to grow sticky on my face and looking around, I knew I was at the bird races. Landing in the aviary, I gave Ebony to one of the Jinn and worked my way out to the stands where the Jinn were betting and cheering.

As soon as this was over, I needed to speak to Bufo.

* * *

( Nod's POV )

"Well, well. If it isn't Ronin. Defender of the weak, pooper of parties here to ruin all the fun.

Bufo was glaring at Ronin when he spoke up. "Ah, I didn't ruin all of the fun. I let you hit him." I brushed the dirt off of my shirt after Bufo's thugs let me down and looked at Ronin in annoyance. "Yeah, twice!" I held up two fingers to emphasize my point and waited to see what Ronin would do next.

"Hop along now, little froggy."

A death glare was given to him by Bufo along with a threat. "I'd be careful If I were you Ronin. Even a Leafman's gotta sleep." However, he did jump away towards the exit of the aviary.

"I'm not going back." I said, flatly. I knew he wanted me to become a Leafman to help protect Moonhaven, but that just wasn't my thing. "I'm not asking you to." He responded, even flatter. I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips.

"Oh, I get it. You're using the old psychology on me to get me to beg you-"

I was cut off by, "The queen is dead."

Shocked by how bluntly he put it, I was taken aback. "S-sh-she-what?"

Ronin told me of the suprise invasion of the Boggans, the queens death, as well as how he had killed General Dagda of the Boggans but was unable to save Queen Tara. "Ronin. I know how she was your-Ah man, I'm so sorry! What are we going to do? What's going to happen to us? What's going to happen to the forest?"

He looked down at the ground before looking back up at me. "I'm not sure, If we don't get the pod to Nim Galuu's, we'll be goners for sure." I sighed, he needed my help even if he wouldn't admit it.

"Just let me get my saddle."

* * *

( M.K's POV )

I entered the aviary where Bufo was feeding some of the birds rotten mushrooms, fixing races as usual. "Bufo!" He turned to look at me and gave a toothless grin calling off his thugs who were looking at me suspiciously. "It's okay guys, M.K is a friend." Removing my mask, I returned his smile from earlier and heard a few shocked gasps from amongst his band of goons, obviously suprised to see that I was both a girl and a Leafman-looking Boggan.

"How can I help ya M.K?" I showed him a fragment of Dagda's bone that I had managed to get ahold of before leaving. "General Dagda, is dead." I whispered in a barely audible voice, but he heard it. "If you know anything as to the location of where the Royal Pod is, you'll tell me now unless you'd like to speak to my father."

He looked at me in shock. Before Dagda had died, we used to race our crows around the tree and prank the Jinn. I got so good at both that Bufo recruited me as one of his racers for a while, and I would play dirty tricks on the other racers, but quit racing after I was accepted into Boggan-Training.

"Well Bufo? What's it going to be?"

Although he was a bit of a shady character, I knew he was secretly loyal to the green side of the forest and in a fight, would join their side. I knew what I had to do and I moved closer to the toad pulling out my swords in a swift motion, one in front of his neck and one pointed down towards his head. I whispered so only he could hear.

"_I guess this means there's going to be a Boggan meeting, wouldn't you agree, friend?_" I said with a slight mock in the tone of my voice. He was whimpering in fear and I simply laughed as I used the hilt of my sword to hit him in the back of the head. Instant KO.

His thugs tried to fight me, but I was too fast for them. I jumped off of the walls and slashed my katanas around until they were all knocked out. With great effort, I dragged Bufo to Ebony and we flew off to Wrathwood. Bufo always knew the latest gossip and rumors, so if anyone knew the current location of the pod, it was him.

If he wasn't going to talk. He was going to croak.

* * *

**Dagda has died and M.K is showing some of her darker Boggans side just like Mandrake does after Dagda's death. So yeah, the reason the Leafmen have never seen M.K or heard of her is because they think she's just another Boggan due to the Boggan mask she wears. I can't wait to write the next chapter!**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	4. Attack on Nim's Tree

**Ok. Ugh! Christmas Break isn't for a few more weeks and I just ****_KNOW_**** that I'm going to be getting a buttload of homework until then, so updates are going to be a little slow. Anyways..enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

( M.K's POV )

"Ah, Bufo. So good to see you here. I see you accepted M.K's invitation?"

Father gave me a ghost of a smile and I simply kept my sword pressed against the Bufo's back.

"Invitation? I was dragged here by your little brat against my will."

I poked him a bit with my sword and he shouted in pain. "Ow! Hey, watch it!" Mandrake moved closer to Bufo and directed him to look off into the distance where our soldiers were rotting the forest, killing every green thing they came across.

"Well, I recieved an anonymous tip that the Leafman, Ronin was at your place of buisness, and he may or may not have had a certain pod with him?"

Bufo rolled his eyes at father and simply walked closer to the edge of the stump we were all standing on.

"That's smooth. You managed to kill the queen, but you let her pod get away? Plus your idiot general pretty much gets himself mulched."

I moved forward towards him with my sword raised and ready to slice him in half, when father put up a hand and gestured for me to not do it. Reluctantly, I sheathed my sword and took a few steps back.

"That idiot general..." I watched as Mandrake leaped from the stump and landed on the ground, stabbing his staff into the ground, "WAS MY SON!" I watched as a trail of rot traveled from his staff and pierced a full-grown tree, causing it to fall over with large chunks of rot jutting out of the sides.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw a mosquito-Boggan take a twig and snap it in half, earning a large gulp from Bufo. He backed up into father and let out a loud gasp, reflecting on what he had said about Dagda. Mandrake backed him up into a wall on the rotten tree stump and Bufo was officially trapped.

"O-of course he was. He had your good looks, and your healthy grey complexion, and forgiving nature-"

"Silence! So, what's it gonna be Bufo? Are you gonna talk? Or are you gonna croak?"

He started whimpering like he had when I had threatened him back at the aviary and I had to hold back a mocking laugh. Father had his poisonous staff in Bufo's face and was moving it closer, and closer, it was about an inch away from his face when he finally lost it.

"Okay! Okay! They went to Nim Galuu's tree! They're keeping the pod there!"

Mandrake immediatly dropped his staff and Bufo started wheezing until her passed out. I pointed my sword towards him and ordered a group of Boggans to return him to the Meadows, to which they complied. Father meanwhile was pacing back and forth trying to come up with a plan to sneak into Nim Galuu's tree.

I suggested just good old-fashioned breaking into the tree and simply stealing the pod, but he thought that my plan was too simple and not complex enough. Now, I was angry that he wouldn't listen to me. When Dagda was still alive, he'd accept every plan I had proposed, so why did he deny my plans now?

Jumping back to the home tree, I sharpened my swords and did some more archery practice before grabbing my mask and mounting Ebony. Looking back at the stump father was still on, looking at how much progress the Boggans were making.

Well, whether he agreed with my plan or not, I was going to show him that it WOULD work.

And nothing and no one was going to be able to stop me.

* * *

( Nod's POV )

"Lose the sword Ronin! The pod will be safe here in Nim's tree."

He turned to me and flashed me a displeased frown. "The fate of us all rests in the safety of that pod. I want you to stay with it while I send out a signal to the Leafmen." I rolled my eyes at him and put my hands on my hips.

"Just because I'm not a Leafman anymore, doesn't mean-"

Cutting me off, he gave me a glare and shifted his jaw into an annoyed look that I had seen many times before.

"You think just because you're not a Leafman anymore that this doesn't concern _you_ anymore? As I was saying, the fate of us all rests on that pod. So stay with it! And _don't_ lose the sword." He walked off to join Nim by the entrance of the tree and I used my elbow to hit my sword sheath tied on my back.

Using my extremely awesome coordination, I grabbed the sword from mid-air, flipped it once and then stabbed it into the tree. I'd probably get in trouble for that later, but currently I didn't have a concern in the world. Whatever, I may as well check on the slugs and make sure they don't go anywhere, not that they travel that fast anyway.

I made my way through the crowd until I finally found them talking with a small fruit fly.

"So, a fruit fly huh?" Mub asked the young fly. I saw that he had a cup of nectar in his hand and a small bud on his head as a party hat. "What's it like? Having a shorter life span?" Grub added to Mub's question.

The small fruit fly responded in a perky childish voice. "It's great mister! When I grow up-" I watched as the fruit fly began aging in seconds before my eyes, his voice becoming older. "-I'm gonna, wish-" I cringed as one of his legs fell off and he used it as a cane as his back had become more arched. "-I had done more with my life sonny."

With one last wheeze, the fruit fly died right in front of us and Grub respectfully removes his flower hat. I felt the floor beneath us rumble and quickly dashed back to the hole in the tree where I had left my sword and pulled it out. Returning to where the slugs were, was where the vibrations were strongest and suddenly the floor fell in a few feet away from me.

A figure all clad in grey emerged from the floor and unsheathed two swords from their belt and began making their way towards Mub and Grub, more importantly, the pod. I pulled out my sword and held it front of me, moving over towards the slugs to protect the pod.

Leafman or not, Ronin was right. This pod needed to bloom in the light of the full moon tonight and I was to protect it.

Bring. It. On.

* * *

( M.K's POV )

I arrived through a window in Nim Galuu's tree and ushered Ebony away after I grabbed the frog-leather satchel from her saddle. Listening through the ceiling with my sharp hearing, I could tell that there was a party going on above my head and I smirked to myself. A party-crasher would most definitely scare quite a few Jinn and I just had to hope that finding the pod would be easy.

Tightening the strings on my boots, putting on my elbow-high fingerless gloves, and adjusting my sword belt, I slipped on my mask and made sure that none of my hair showed. Taking my twin katanas, I plunged a hole into the ceiling and began carving my way through to the floor above my head.

Finally managing to make it through the ceiling, I put my swords in my belt for a minute, just to use both pf my hands to pull myself up and do a backflip in the air. Landing, I pulled out my swords again and quickly spotted the pod in the hands of two slugs, making my way towards them. Then a stupid Leafman-Jinn with a sword jumped in front of them and pointed his katana at me threateningly.

"_Who are you_?"

"..." I remained silent. This lowly Jinn had no right to know my identity let alone my name.

"_Why are you here_?"

Now that, I could answer. I quickly ran towards him with my swords waving back and forth in unpredictable patterns. He backed up a bit but then aimed his sword towards me and I simply blocked it with my own. This went on for a while, other Jinn-folk gathering around us to watch, useless civilization, I though to myself.

Pretending to be about to fall over, he jumped up to finish me off but as soon as he was about to land, I threw my leg up and tripped him in mid-air. He fell onto the ground and looked too weak to get up so I simply strolled over to the slugs and ripped the pod away from them. It curled its vine around my arm as though it actually trusted me and felt safe around me, which I mentally scoffed at.

Turning to jump out of the window, I was about to leave when another portion of the floor fell open and Mandrake appeared riding on a mole. Looks like he had his own plan figured out. However, sadly for me, the sudden loss of floor beneath my feet cause me to fall and drop the pod which one of the slugs quickly grabbed, moving to hide in a closet.

"Excuse me, but I'm looking for something very dear to me? It was left to me by a friend that is no longer here with us."

He didn't spot the trail of slime that led into the small closet and I was so mad at him ruining my plan that I didn't have the mind to tell him about it. Instead, I did a somersault and then leaped out of the window in a swan dive, whistling for Ebony who caught me just before I hit the dirt, literally.

I looked up at the window and saw the Leafman I had fought with watch me with obvious curiousity as to whom I was. He had obviously seen that my body shape was not mutated and contorted like most Boggans, but human-like and small, not at all threatening at first look. Oh well, I'd get another chance to get the pod and father had not seen me at the tree so I assumed I was safe.

For now.

* * *

**Ooh! Looks like M.K isn't following Mandrake's orders and is becoming a bit more rebellious and independent. Anyway, first encounter between M.K and Nod, BUT not the last. I'll see you guys in a few more days...hopefully...**

§~Amethyst~§


	5. Bats & Pods

**Sorry for the hold-up guys. I'm currently working on another story and I'm trying to juggle them out but it turns out, I'm so inspired to write the other one, I sort of momentarily stopped working on this one. However, I'm almost finished on the other so soon this fic will be PRIORITY #1. Anyway, here's chapter 5!**

* * *

( Nod's POV )

I watched as the stranger flew away on the back of a crow and then got up and weakly leaned against a wall.

"Nod!"

Ronin ran towards me with his sword unsheated scanning the area for any sign of Mandrake, but he had already ran off on his pet mole. I gave him a smirk, and using as much sarcasm as I could muster, said, "Well, looks like you scared them off!" He rolled his eyes at my remark and then stopped and looked at me curiously.

"Them?" Now I rolled my eyes and put a hand on my hip, he seriously didn't know about the dude I had to fight? Sure I got beat and for a moment they had taken the pod, but I at least tried to defend it! "Yeah, this one guy came and fought me taking the pod, and then Mandrake showed up and the guy dropped the pod, which the slugs grabbed and hid in the closet. Then the guy just disappeared out the window on a crow."

Ronin's eyes had widened to the size of acorns as I had spoken and for a minute he was suprised that he had missed the first attacker. "Who was it? Was it a Boggan...or, something else?" I tried to look back and see the face of the attacker but all I saw was...

"They were wearing a mask. A Boggan mask, but their limbs were human-like and they jumped around like a Leafman."

I sat down and put my face in my hands, I was tired and today had been a really long day for us all. I'd been in a scouting attack with Boggans this morning, I quit being a Leafman, the Queen had been killed, the pod had almost been taken. Plus, we still had to make sure that it bloomed safely in the moonlight back at Moonhaven.

"It's been a long day. Let's get back to Moonhaven and wait for the moon to rise."

I nodded my head, unresponsive, and got up from my seat to walk over to where Willow was, by the entrance of the tree waiting to be mounted. She chirped happily at the sight of me approaching and started fluttering her wings a bit. "Whoa! Easy girl." Gently stroking her feathers, she calmed and allowed me to hop onto her back, once mounted I secured my feet into the stirrups and tightened the reins.

Looking over at Ronin on his own hummingbird, we gave each other a look and at the same time we snapped out reins, making our birds fly off at the same time. Gliding across the sky, I watched as the moon started to slowly rise higher into the sky. Hopefully, it would be smooth sailing frm her on out if things went according to plan...then again.

Nothing ever went according to plan.

* * *

( M.K's POV )

"Why don't we just use bats to block out the moon?"

I swear, every Boggan in that room was either looking at me like I was a mad genius, or just mad. Either way, my plan could be made into reality, and that was the most important thing when you pitched an idea to the council. "Your daughter, has great ideas Mandrake." One of the council members, Skeets, gave me a nod of acknowledgment which I returned.

However, another Boggan, almost shark-like spoke up as well. "Don't be ridiculous! Do you know how much time and bats would be needed to pull this stunt off-"

"You're forgetting General Brute, that Mandrake is not only King of Wrathwood, but also Lord of the Bats. They will do as he says." I retorted back to Brutus. He glared at me for a second but as my words sunk in, he ceased glaring at me and held his head down in shame. "That is true, your highness."

"Of course it is. My father has been dealing with bats ever since he was small, he became a bat hunter and received the cloak that he wears today. Eventually, he learned to tame and ride them, so now, we may also ride them...to victory!"

They all cheered and stood up at my words, I turned to look over at father who gave me a smile. I knew we were both thinking the same thing in that instant...

_We'll win this battle, for Dagda._

Leaping out of the room with the rest of the Boggans, we assembled as many as we could find before jumping and running towards the heart of home tree, where we kept the bats. As we mounted the bats, Mandrake let a blood-curdling shriek emerge from his lips and the bats awoke with a start, fluttering off into the night following Mandrake's crow.

It was truly exhilarating riding a bat because unlike a crow, they had no saddles and you had to hold onto their ears to steer them. We rode off into the night, heading towards the full moon that was finding its way to Moonhaven.

"M.K!"

I looked over to see father gesture for me to ride up front, leading the army, with him. A grin settled on my face and I urged my bat to go faster so I was literally in the middle of the swarm. We flew for a few more minutes until we were directly over Moonhaven.

"Start formation!" Mandrake screamed at the others, and they obeyed his command.

"Father! What if the Leafmen come to attack us?"

"Then we'll wipe them all out!"

The bats began flying upwards in a spiraled formation, going to block out the moons beams from settling on the ground down below.

Now, it time for some real fun.

* * *

( Nod's POV )

Every stared at the pod, anxiously waiting for the rise of the new queen and the continuance of the life of the forest. Closer. The light moved over towards the pod some more and more. The pod even stretched out one of its little vines to catch the moonlight, letting on or two petals shift, awaiting to bloom.

Then, darkness.

The pod recoiled its vine back when it no longer sensed the drifting moonlight and began to turn into a darker color. "The pod!" I heard the slugs scream in horror and the crowd began to get concerned looks on their faces.

"Mandrake's bats! They're blocking out the moon!" Everyone looked to me and knew my words were true. The Leafmen and women ran out towards the back of the palace and got onto their birds, while I ran down to the armory where I secured my armor and grabbed a sword.

Returning to the back of the palace, I mounted my old hummingbird, Summer, and checked my saddle. "Well look who decided to join the party." Finn, Ronin's second-in-command gave me sad smile.

"What? We're outnumbered. Out of time. And the fate of the world rests on our shoulders. Why did I quit again?"

He gave a friendly smile before flicking his reins, causing his bird to take off. "Well then, I'll see you up there!" I watched him fly into the flurry of bats and did a mental checklist to make sure I had everything that I needed.

"Alright. As soon as I find my-" I saw Grub wearing a helmet and carrying a sword, I leaned over my bird and grabbed the helmet from his head, "-helmet. Thanks!" I took off into the air and heard the slug-I mean, snail let out a yell of frustration at me taking his helmet.

Lets face it though, I needed it more than he did. Knowing him and the chaos that was spreading, he wouldn't even be able to find a bird. At least five dozen Leafmen including me were practically flying to our deaths, with me as one in the front line. I looked around and saw one on my right woman shouting a battle cry, soon joined by a man on my left.

I let out a battle cry of my own before everyone in our small platoon was yelling at the top of their lungs. We dove, almost blindly into the black swirling mass of bat and Boggan, not sure if we would fail or succeed. I honestly wasn't sure how many Boggans I had killed when I saw Mandrake, on the only crow around swoop downwards.

"Mandrake! He's heading towards Moonhaven!"

I let my Summer descent downwards until we were attacked by a Boggan and I was forced to jump from Summer and onto the bat after I had thrown off the former rider. Turns out, I almost fell off from my new ride but soon it was fairly easy to ride, blindly doing what you said even if you weren't a Boggan.

Catching up to Mandrake, he saw me and swung his staff at me but I dodged it and smiled, confidently. "Ha! You missed me!" He rolled his eyes as if he already knew that and gave me an evil smirk. "I wasn't aiming for you..." I suddenly felt my fingers lose their grip on my bats ears and looked down in horror to realize that my bat was nothing but a skeleton.

Before falling off towards the ground, I made a daring leap onto Mandrakes crow where he swung his staff at me, I dodged and threw my sword at him which he moved a quarter-inch to evade. Soon though, I was losing my balance and managed to grab a strange necklace from Mandrake's neck before I fell down towards the ground.

"No!" He yelled, trying to grab my hand that had the necklace but missed by mere inches as I fell.

I landed on the cold hard ground and looked at my hand, trying to identify why this necklace was of so much importance to Mandrake. Examining it more closely, I found that it was a whistle of some sort, maybe as a signal or a summoning whistle.

Whistling for Summer, she appeared by my side in a flash of red and I got back onto my saddle. I blew the whistle and a sharp high-pitched noise emerged from the whistle, reaching the bats ears as they began to fly towards the sound emanating from the whistle which I now recognized, as a bat whistle.

Summer and I flew towards the forest, drawing the bats away from the moon that still wasn't quite where it needed to be. Flying back to Moonhaven, I jumped from Summer and ran inside where Ronin was struggling to hold off Mandrake who was violently attacking him.

I ran to his aid, but another figure stepped from the darkness and pulled out twin katanas, held up in an x-formation. Pulling out my own sword, I let out a battle cry as the figure jumped at me. I recognized the mask the figure wore was the same one from Nim's tree, the one that had tried to steal the pod.

"You again?!"

He simply swung one of his swords at me, trying to decapitate me or something. So when he pretended to have lost his balance, I simply ignored it and continued fighting him, I would not make the same mistake I had last time.

No. This time I would win. I had to win.

* * *

( M.K's POV )

Ugh. Stupid Leafman from the tree. Do you really want to fight me again?

"You again?!"

I looked shocked for a minute that he remembered me and just begged that father hadn't heard him. Swinging my sword at him I started slashing towards him, jumping around avoiding his sword, more like a letter opened, I thought to myself. I was actually starting to lose my balance when he used his force to knock my sword almost out of my hand until I grabbed it again.

He had made no move to attack so he obviously assumed that I had been trying to trick him, which for once...I wasn't. I looked past him and my father to see the pod starting to glow in a white light. Sheathing my swords, I jumped over the Leafman and pushed my father out of the way of the incoming light, before being hit in the chest with the powerful blast.

I was thrown out of the palace by the impact and even back into some branches. Would I live through this? Was there serious damage done to my body? Well, at least father was safe...

That was the last thought flowing through my mind before I passed out, large ugly green leaves shielding me from the world.

* * *

**Whoo! A cliff hanger-ish. As the plot thickens, so does my pudding. (stirs pudding mysteriously) Don't worry, I'll update again soon (unlike last time...) this story will NEVER be dropped. Thanks for all the reads/reviews/favorites/follows I WILL NEVER STOP THANKING PEOPLE!**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	6. Third Impressions

**Hooray! Another chapter IS UP! Ugh, Christmas Break isn't until next week so I probably won't be updating for a little while. Anyway, Mandrake gets some more POV, have any requests for other characters POV's? Thanks for reading/reviewing/favoriting/following this story! (I will always be thanking you guys! Alright, here's chapter 6!**

* * *

( Mandrake's POV )

That stupid Ronin thought that he could actually beat me in a fight? He had stolen my son from me and I was determined to make him pay, by taking away the one thing that he truly cared about. The life of the forest, more specifically, the pod that the queen he loved had left behind.

We were fighting as if we were the only two in the room, while in reality I had M.K guard the door to ensure no other Leafmen would disturb Ronin and I. Apparently, that cocky brat that had stolen my bat whistle was now fighting her, but I knew she could beat just about anyone.

I was so entangled in my battle with Ronin, I didn't notice the pod beginning to take in moonlight that had leaked into the room from a hole in the ceiling. The next thing I knew, M.K had pushed me away and taken my spot when a powerful blast of light hit her in the chest, throwing her out into the forest by the impact.

"NO!"

Turning back to Ronin, I stabbed him in the leg with my staff, rotting away his armor before I in turn took my sword and stabbed him in the leg. He fell to the ground with scarlet blood seeping from his wound, I grabbed him by the neck and held him above me, whispering so that only he could hear.

"You're the reason both of my children are dead. You'll pay for this...but first you deserve some pain.."

Using my staff, I let the tip of it touch Ronin's armor, watching it as it spread the rot along burning him with decay, a slow and painful process that could last for days. I heard footsteps behind me and swiftly turned to see the Leafboy trying to attack me. Typical.

"Oh please, don't try and be a hero, boy. I'll kill your general in his sleep, when he least expects it." Looking around, I saw several Leafmen jump in from the ceiling and surround me. Staff in hand, I stabbed it into the ground and the Leafmen were thrown back against the walls by the force as I casually walked out the same way I had come in.

I whistled for my crow, Onyx, and took off back towards Wrathwood. There was still a small chance that M.K was alive and I decided to give her five days to return home or else she would be officially declared dead. Despite being King of Wrathwood, the Leader of the Boggans, and the Lord of the Bats, I found a tear slide down my face at the thought of never seeing my little girl again...

**~Flashback~**

_"Now M.K, you want to try and aim your arrow just a little bit above your target, gravity will help your arrow from there."_

_A five-year old M.K loaded her arrow and aimed it about a half inch above her intended target, moving back her arm before moving the finger holding the arrow and letting it fly. It was a perfect bullseye and M.K began jumping around in her excitement while I watched, smiling. _

_"I hit it! I actually hit it!" _

_"Now M.K, don't get overexcited. That was a good shot, but you need to be able to learn how to do it faster and accurate every time."_

_M.K looked down at her small bow, that resembled mine, and then back up at me nodding her head vigorously in understanding. "Okay daddy. I'll practice as much as I can!" She grabbed a quiver full of non-toxic arrows and started shooting them at the many targets set up in the training room._

_The day was finally over and we headed back towards the home tree when we arrived back in our apartment. M.K ran into her room across from Dagda's, hopping into her bed, I tucked her in and she gave me a tight hug._

_"Daddy. I love you."_

_I felt my jaw drop to the floor before smiling at M.K and returning the hug, no one had really ever shown me any affection besides Dagda, but he was now eleven years old and was now more focused on his training and becoming a better soldier._

_"I love you too, M.K."_

**~End of Flashback~**

No. She would make it back to Wrathwood, for she was one of the finest warriors that I had ever trained. Strong, independent, and fierce, she reminded me so much of my late wife, Dagda's mother.

* * *

( Nod's POV )

My eyes widened as Ronin and I approached the now bloomed pod and watched as golden dust emerged from the blossom and flew around the room. It drifted in the air and sometimes swirled around, as if looking for someone. For a minute, it spiraled around Ronin but then moved on stopping in front of a jinn girl, who had hope in her eyes that she would become the new queen.

That hope disappeared as the dust suddenly altered course and zoomed out of the entrance of the palace, towards the forest. Everyone started talking all at once and rumors went flying that the pod was choosing someone from one of our sister kingdoms to become Moonhaven's queen. Others said that it hadn't worked and all of our fighting was in vain.

"Ronin? What's going on?"

"I don't know Nod. Normally, I'd say we should follow the dust...but who knows where it would lead us."

I understood his reasoning, sort of, but I decided that if he wasn't going to follow it I may as well. Sneaking away from Ronin, I found Summer and began following the slowly-moving golden dust. It stopped for a minute and I maneuvered over behind a large tree where Summer landed on a thin twig of a branch.

The dust seemed to have turned around, sensing it was being followed, before going on its merry way. I continued to follow it before it carefully made its way into some bushes, when I pushed them aside, it was gone.

"Wild goose chase." I mumbled, quite annoyed that the small trail of dust had only ended up getting me lost in another part of the forest.

Descending towards the ground, I dismounted Summer and tried to find any sign of moss anywhere, as it always pointed towards Moonhaven. Walking around, I pushed aside a large leaf, to find-

"Wrathwood."

It seemed to have grown in size over the past few hours since the death of the queen and the Boggans were rumored to have been expanding their territory. Suddenly I heard a loud noise coming from the other side of a large rock. I jumped on top of the rock and pulled out my sword, awaiting whatever creature appeared behind it.

What I saw, was a figure clad all in grey hiding in the shadows...

* * *

( M.K's POV )

"Oh rot."

I felt like my entire body was had been thrown across the whole forest, which it practically did.

Looking around my surroundings, I was in an unfamiliar part of the forest that I had once passed through but never stopped in. If I was correct, Wrathwood was only a few feet away from here. I let out a sigh in relief that I had lived after that crazy blast of light hit me in the chest.

I better get back to Wrathwood, Mandrake is probably worried about me...maybe he even thinks I died.

Died.

Struggling to stand, I found a small twig on the ground and used it as a cane to stand up. Now on my feet, I found I was quickly healing, which was strange because it usually took me days to get better after getting harmed. Adjusting my mask onto my face, I took a step forward, slipping in some mud that I hadn't noticed and fell onto my back.

"Ouch." Getting back up, again, I accidentally let out a cry of pain as I felt a sharp pain in my head. Then a quiet rustling from behind a rock was heard by my sharp hearing and I unsheathed my sword, sliding into a shadowy place. I saw the shadow of a figure on top of the rock and I assumed that they saw me as well.

We remained like that for a few minutes before the figure finally jumped off of the rock and put his sword down in a "friendly" manner.

"Hello? I can see you hiding there, so why don't you just come on out? I promise, I won't hurt you if you drop your weapons as well."

Oh for love of Mandragora! It was that dumb old Leafman that I kept running into wherever I went. Reluctantly, I stepped out from the shadows and decided to catch the soldier off-guard before I slit his throat. Dropping my twin katanas in an x-formation, he let out a loud gasp, obviously recognizing me.

I pulled out a spare dagger as well as a bottle of poisonous fluid that Boggans used to cover their arrows. Putting down my bow and quiver of poisonous arrows as well, the Leafman looked surprised to see how many weapons I kept on my person. He smiled when I dropped my last throwing knife, but didn't know that I still had a sharpened stiletto and a small machete.

"Oh. It's you. How is it that whenever we meet, you always try to kill me?"

My only response to him was silence, just because we weren't going to kill each other immediately, didn't mean we weren't at all. "Not talking, hmm? You know, I am aware that you're not a Boggan."

This set me off and I started to step towards him until he put up a surrendering hand. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you upset. My name's Nod." He stuck out a hand in offering and I mentally scoffed at it.

Nod? What kind of a name was Nod? A nod is something you do when you're too lazy to say "yes". Despite my instincts screaming no, I found myself stepping forward to meet this..Nod's, hand. However at the last minute, I pulled out my stiletto from behind my back and pointed it at his neck.

"I thought you'd try something like this.."

He pulled out his own small dagger and pushed me away with his foot, then jumped over my head and landed on top of a rock. We fought for what seemed like hours to me until he managed to surprise me by grabbing my arm and flipping me onto my back. Pointing his dagger at my face, he was breathing heavily and his arms were shaking.

"I win. Now, talk. Who are you?"

I let out a groan of annoyance before reluctantly removing my mask. He gasped in shock upon seeing my face and he looked me over, scanning me to make sure I wasn't a Boggan.

"Surprised?"

He wanted to know who I was? I was going to tell him. Not out of free will, but because my life was on the line.

* * *

**Oooooooooooh! Now, M.K and Nod will have some real one-on-one talking, not killing, interaction! What's up with the pod and what will happen to M.K and Nod? Sorry to leave you hanging guys! Later!**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	7. Avoiding Questions

**Sorry for the wait guys, not sure which direction the next part of this story was going to go, but now its Christmas Break and I AM FREE! Apologies if this chapter seems short-er, but the next WILL be longer and more things are going to happen. This chapter is like the glue that holds two major parts of machinery together...okay? Okay. Read on!**

* * *

( Nod's POV )

I couldn't help but stare at the strange girl that stood before me.

She was indeed, not a Boggan as I had guessed, but she also wasn't a guy as I had assumed. What really stood out about her, was her fiery red hair tied up into a ponytail with her bangs hanging on the left side of her face. She eventually caught me staring and cleared her throat in a serious manner and I looked away from her, embarrassed.

"Looking for something?"

I felt my face grow warm but managed to keep a straight face when I looked back at her. "...No. Now, are you going to tell me who you are?" Holding my dagger up higher towards her, I moved to retrieve my sword and held it in my hand, sheathing the small dagger.

She let out an annoyed sigh but took a seat on a small rock, crossing arms like a child would when their mother was about to give them a long talk. "Shoot! Go ahead and ask me. Ask me anything!" What was I going to ask her about first? There were so many possibilities on the table, but in the end I ended up saying,

"Who are you?"

"My name is M.K and I am a Boggan soldier, as well as the second in-command to King Mandrake."

I was really taken aback.

In my mind, I had imagined that her backstory consisted of her being kidnapped by the Boggans and raised as their slave or a reluctant warrior. This however, being that she grew up and trained amongst these people that tried to constantly kill our queen and destroy out forest. My thoughts were interrupted when M.K silently added, with her head hung low.

"My father says that I am his daughter...but it never really made sense. I always knew that I looked more like the Jinn and Leafmen, but I wouldn't question him." She looked down at her hands as she spoke and I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. I couldn't imagine growing up in Wrathwood, not looking like everyone else with the normal grey skin and yellow eyes.

"It must have been hard growing up there."

Her head turned away and she clenched her hands into fists before looking back up at me. "If you must know, it wasn't. I was easily accepted and it doesn't matter if I do or don't look like them, I am a Boggan! So I don't need a pity party from you or anyone else, okay?"

I put up my hands in a surrendering gesture and she seemed to calm down, a little bit.

"Alright. Okay. Why did you attack me those tw-er, three times?"

"First, you were in my way of the pod. Second, Mandrake gave me orders to keep Leafmen away. Lastly, you annoy me." Honestly, the last remark was a bit unexpected and I couldn't help but think that just a few minutes ago, she believed me to be an annoying goody-two-shoes Leafman.

What she didn't know, was that I had raced for Bufo in fixed races and pranked the Jinn when I was younger. "You know, there's a lot more to me than most people would think. You'd just have to get to know me better to see it."

That was when she practically spat out her cold-hearted response that for some reason, stuck with me.

**"I don't want to get to know you better. Nod."**

* * *

( M.K's POV )

I really needed to leave this place and get back to Wrathwood, but this idiot was keeping me here answering pointless questions. Glancing up, the sun was already a bit in the sky and it would soon be time for training which I never missed out on.

Casually, I started to whistle a tune that father had taught me, which secretly had in it the signal to call for my crow. "What are you doing?" Rot. Why was this guy so persistent and curious?

Playing innocent, I gave a fake smile and gestured to some dragonflies buzzing a few feet away from where we were. "They say that if a dragonfly hears music, you could be able to tame it and make it your pet." This seemed to grab his interest and he looked towards where I had pointed.

Fool. This of course, was a half-truth and a half-lie. He hadn't bothered to tie me up or restrain me in any form from leaving and I took this opportunity to grab my swords in a silent manner. I pulled out my machete, with his back turned I hit him over the head with the hilt, knocking him out cold.

Grabbing some small vines, I tied him up to a fallen branch and knotted it about fifty times. I had learned how to professionally tie knots in order to keep things from untying.

I couldn't have him following me back to Wrathwood.

Looking towards the trees, I saw Ebony land by my side and I swiftly hopped onto her saddle and flicked the reins. Father would definitely be glad that I was alive, but angry that I hadn't killed that Leafman who now knew of my existance.

Oh decay. I would have to watch the borders now and make sure that he didn't try to do anything stupid. By stupid, I mean...looking for me. It took around three minutes of flying until I was greeted by the sight of our rotten desolate kingdom.

Something had changed. Maybe it was that our territory had expanded significantly over the course of a day. Or perhaps it was the fact that Dagda had died within the last thirty hours and most were still grieving his death. Whatever it was, it was really bugging me.

Making my way to the home tree, I accidentally set off a trap that shot several arrows at me. I ducked just in time and swiftly made my way to the throne room where father was sitting with his head in his hands.

"Father..."

He looked up at me and his eyes grew wide before he gave me a big smile and leaped from his throne and gave me a big hug. "Thank Mandragora you're alive. I didn't know what to think after you were hit with the blast meant for me." Letting me go and holding me at arms length, he frowned for a moment.

"Where is your mask?"

Shoot. I must have left it behind after my little talk with Nod. Gasping as shocked as I could and checking my belt for where it would be, I put my hand on my forehead and appeared distraught to father. "Ugh! It must have fallen off when I was hit." The smile returned to his face and he simply shook his head.

"It's alright, we can get you another one." I slowly nodded my head, even if I was lying about my mask, it would be impossible to get it back without being seen by scouts and I would have to explain everything. Oh well,...I was going to miss that mask.

"I'm just,..glad that I didn't lose two children today."

He hugged me again and I returned his embrace with one thought on my mind.

_Now I'll have to kill Nod._

* * *

( Nod's POV )

Ouch.

I woke up with a huge bump on my head while being tied up to a tree in seven hundred intricate knots. What happened again? Oh yeah. M.K happened. How on Earth did I fall for her trick and how was I going to get out of here?

"Nod?!" A few feet away, I could hear my name being called. At least she hadn't gagged my mouth with anything. "I'm over here!" There were some footsteps and then I saw Ronin emerge from the foliage looking stressed out and worried.

"What are you doing out here boy? I told you not to follow the dust!" It was official. He was angry.

"I couldn't help it! Okay? Now..get me out of here." I sort of whispered the last part, clearly embarrassed that I would have to explain to Ronin what exactly had happened. He flawlessly untied the knots with ease and moved the vines into a twisted pile before turning to me with a scowl on his face.

"Do you want to tell me what exactly happened?"

I held my head downwards, away from his gaze and played with a twig I had picked up. How would I tell him? He would think that I was crazy and have me locked away until I changed my story. No one else but I knew of M.K's existence except for the Boggans themselves.

"Okay. I'll tell you. But I have to warn you, you probably won't believe me."

He sat down and looked me right in the eyes.

"Try me."

* * *

**Again, sorry for leaving you guys hanging and thanks for being so loyal and patient while waiting for my lazy butt to update. It's almost Christmas, so...MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! Next chapter will be up soon (I promise!) and stuff is-Going. To. Go. Down.**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	8. Evidence of Existence

**Apologies for the long wait, I am currently slacking off at home and getting my fangirl ON over the approaching 2014...and the movies that come out in it! Some stuff is going to go down in this chapter and YOU'L NEED TO READ IT TO BELIEVE IT! (Not really, I just wanted to say that :) Well, here it is, Chapter 8!**

* * *

( Ronin's POV )

"-so the next thing I knew, you woke me up and I was tied to that branch! Ronin, you _have_ to believe me!"

"Wait a minute..." I took a seat down on a cot next to Nod's and put my head in my hands, trying to process what he had told me. After I had untied him and he was about to tell me what happened, his head began to bleed and I suggested going back to Moonhaven and visiting the infirmary. My only question, was could he be telling the truth or just suffering from a concussion?

_Another_ concussion...

I moved my fingers a bit so one of my eyes could peak through my hand, just to see Nod intently staring at me, almost in desperation. If I said that I believed him, I'd be lying, but if I told him I didn't believe him, he wouldn't trust me if something bad ever happened.

"Look Nod, I do and don't believe you. Alright? If you want me to fully believe you, I'll need some proof that this..Boggan girl isn't just a figment of your imagination."

He was silent for a moment but then slowly nodded his head in understanding of what I had told him. "So..you won't believe me unless I have proof." I remained silent at this and he took this as a 'yes' from me. Getting up from the cot that he was sitting in, he moved past me and walked towards the leafy door, pushing it aside and giving me one final glance before walking out of the room.

Quickly regaining my senses, I got up from the cot and followed after him to see him fixing the saddle on his hummingbird. "Where do you think you're going? You're still injured!" I gestured to the bandages wrapped around his head, but he just ignored my comment towards his well being and put the reins on the bird.

"**NOD! **Answer me!"

This got his attention. He spun around to face me, walked towards me, and began yelling. "I'm going to find proof, alright?! I know what I saw, and if you don't believe me, I'll show you that I'm not lying!" Jumping on his mount, he fastened his feet in the stirrups before flicking the reins.

I watched after him as he flew through the trees and out of sight at fast speeds, never once looking back at me.

Even though I had raised him ever since he was seven, there were always some things that we just couldn't agree on or connect about. When I was a young boy, I always knew that I wanted to be a Leafman. Nod, well, he just wanted to ride birds and have fun, never taking things seriously.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn and thick-headed most of the time?"

I whispered, more to myself than to him.

* * *

( Mandrake's POV )

It had already been four days since M.K's return and I requested that she stay hidden for a while, which she immediately agreed upon much to my surprise. One day just as the sun was rising, I saw M.K practicing in her archery, using the poisoned arrows and shooting by the border. Every thing the poisoned arrows touched rotted grey and withered away.

"M.K..._Mary Katherine._"

She turned to look at me and I saw something along the lines of fear in her eyes which was odd since she never seemed to be afraid of anything. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?" The only response I got, was another arrow being released so that it lodged into a large tree and began eating off the bark and wood. I turned to leave back to the home tree until she finally spoke.

"Wait...It's just...nothing. Nothing is wrong..."

"What is it child? You know that you can always tell me what's bothering you." Her eyes were closed when she turned to face me and when she opened them, she looked like she was literally on the brink of tears. "I'd just like to be alone for a while...that's all..." I did as she requested and jumped off of some rotten branches to make my way back to the main training tree.

The new recruits were wiping the sleep from their eyes and yawning like small children that were forced to get up from a nap. They wouldn't feel like this at the end of training, that was the promise I made to myself.

"Those of you that need to work on your archery, training is to the left. Whoever needs to improve their sword fighting, you'll go to the training area to the right. We'll be having a test at the end of the day. **Now go!**"

All of the rookies scrambled off to whichever training they needed to go to first, they obviously feared me and it made me smile a little. Working the new trainees hard would take my mind off of M.K and what had gotten her so...sad lately. Dark came faster than I had anticipated and all of the recruits had cocky smiles on their faces, as if they actually did a decent job in their individual training.

"Wipe those smiles off your faces Boggans! You think you've done well today? Well you're wrong! Time for your test. Sword fighters with have a duel with me and if you can last at least five minutes, you'll be in the next battle. If you somehow manage to beat me, you may just become a new general."

They all stared at me, obviously not wanting to have to fight the Boggan King, the master of the sword and staff. "Volunteers?" There was silence and no one stepped forward to try first.

"_I'm not a new recruit, but I need to fight someone right now..._"

M.K emerged from the shadows with her swords in their sheaths on her belt, several of the recruits let their jaws drop and I just rolled my eyes at them. She moved towards me so she stood under a beam of moonlight, pulling out her swords in her signature x-formation.

She made the first move of attack trying to stab me with both of her swords, I blocked them and attempted to hit her with my staff. Jumping out of the way she proceeded to slice off my extended arm but I moved it back just in time. There was some sort of unseen and uncontrollable force at work inside of her, that I just couldn't put my finger on.

"So it begins. Father."

Now, the sword fight was really going to start, what had just passed was only a warm-up.

* * *

( Nod's POV )

He wanted proof? Alright, I was going to get him proof. I wasn't quite sure how yet but I had two plans in my mind, either kidnap the girl and make her tell Ronin everything. There was also the get someone who semi-believes me to talk to Ronin and convince him that I'm not hallucinating...

"Stop talking to yourself Nod!"

I let out an exasperated sigh and made Summer land on a small branch high up in a tree where I knew she would be safe. Dismounting, I took in a deep breath before making my way down the tree, careful not to bump my still-sore head onto any of the branches. Once at the bottom of the tree, I looked out towards the grey landscape before me.

"Wrathwood...No going back now Nod. Not without proof that the girl you met actually exists."

Pulling out my sword and making my way around the border, I was careful to avoid the preying eyes of scouts. I was feeling good about myself, since I had stopped at my home before leaving Moonhaven entirely and had changed into my "civilian clothes". The moon was rising and I watched the nighttime come to life, crickets were chirping and the fireflies were glowing brightly.

"_And everyone says, this love will change you..._"

Suddenly turning in a full circle I look around for the owner of the voice, singing this strange song I've never heard before. Listening closer, I also hear the strum of something, an instrument perhaps? "_Well I ask, does anything ever stay the same..._"

Closer. The voice was getting louder and I was sure of it.

"_No, no, no. Just same changes..._"

Then, there was the crack of a twig and I get super defensive until I lift my foot and see a twig underneath it. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I mentally slapped myself across the face and realize that the singing has stopped. Paranoia was getting to me, so I didn't hear the crackle of the leaves when someone pushed them aside, or when I was hit on the head..._again_.

When I woke up, my head was throbbing even more than the last time and I had the eerie feeling that I wasn't alone.

"That's what you get for spying, _Noddy._"

Great. _**Her**_ again. On the bright side, at least I found who I was looking for. Now, the tricky part was to get her to come with me and show her to Ronin, as if that was going to happen! "I wasn't spying. I just heard music and singing and I was looking for you so-" At this point in my sentence, she raised her sword under my chin so that it closed my mouth and her eyes seemed to become even greener.

"Well _stop_ looking for me. _Okay?_ I just want to get on with my life like I never knew you and deep down inside, you want to forget about me too." She removed her sword from by my throat, cut off the bonds I didn't know I had on my hands, and began to walk off.

Standing up to follow her and ask her something, I reached out my hand to touch her shoulder and she turned, grabbed my hand and used the same flip-move I had used on her a while ago. "**Don't** follow me. Just...**leave me alone!**" And with that, she leaped off of the rotten branches through the marsh-like pond to reach the large stump in the center of the Boggan territory.

Whatever she said, I wasn't going to give up. I'd hang around the borders every day until she came to see me and I was willing to get myself caught by a scout just to see her reaction to my capture. Geez, I needed to stop mentally talking about her like I actually liked her. Who knows? Maybe I didn't and maybe I did, but one thing was for certain.

I was a Leafman and she was a Boggan. It could never work.

* * *

**It looks like Nod is going to be hanging around the Moonhaven/Wrathwood borders, what'll M.K do? Chapter 9 will be coming up soon, I have MAJOR plans! (Insert evil laugh HERE) Okay, so the song Same Changes doesn't belong to me, it belongs to The Weepies and it is the song heard for like a milisecond in the movie when M.K is dropped off at her dads house. So long, readers, reviewers, favoriters, (I know that isn't a word..) and followers of this story!**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	9. Victim of Fate

**As you may have noticed, most of the characters in this story are quite OOC, but only because the events of Epic have been swapped around and altered. So yeah, M.K is only going to get more awesome and ninja-like while Nod, well...you'll see. Anywho, here is the chapter 9!**

* * *

( M.K's POV )

The moment I had turned my back on him two days ago, I knew that he wouldn't leave immediately. My only options were to either scare him away, or kill him which I wasn't sure I wanted to do, even if he was a Leafman. I'd volunteer to scout near the border every morning just to make sure that another Boggan wouldn't slit his throat.

I wouldn't have him die as an innocent, but in a sword duel instead...that's just the way I thought things should be...

Day after day, I would threaten, taunt, and try to emotionally attack Nod to scare him away. Why didn't I just kill him? Even though I was a highly trained warrior and had the capability to, I found that I actually had a conscience and stuck to verbal abuse. It never worked though, of course because he just kept hanging on to the fact that to _everyone_ in Moonhaven...I was a hallucination of his.

Eventually though father got a little, suspicious, and sent out someone else to scout the area. I tried to plaster a smile over my look of concern-...I mean, anger. "Father? Why did you sent out someone else to scout the borders? Do you _not_ trust me to responsibly handle the job?"

"No M.K. You looked tired and a bit stressed. I thought that you might like it if you took a break...just for a while though! Why don't you go help with the trainees?"

Now he was just trying to get rid of me,..._great_. I obeyed his suggestion and made my way to the training grounds, showing the new recruits how to shoot an arrow at a quick-moving figure. They weren't that shabby, only they lacked the speed to load and release an arrow before I could. "Okay guys, that's enough for today! Keep practicing!"

I was slowly making my way to the border when a hand grabbed both of mine and tied them together with a thick vine. My mouth was covered by a hand while my weapons were taken as well.

"M.K. We _have_ to talk. I'm going to move my hand from over your mouth, and we're going to talk like civilized people. Leafman to Boggan. Okay?"

Stupid Nod. I nodded my head albeit reluctantly and watched as his fingerless-gloved hand moved away from my mouth. An ear-piercing scream left my mouth and several scouts emerged from the grey side of the forest and restrained Nod, untying me as well. "_Leafman_..." They all spat out as they looked at him in complete disgust.

He just gave me a half-angry and half-pleading look, practically _begging_ me to help him, which I just couldn't. "Let's just kill him off **now**.." Skeets smiled evilly before poking Nod with a spear. The others agreed and it seemed like Nod was silently praying that a miracle would occur as Skeet's raised a sword over his head. And a miracle did appear.

"**NO! **No. W-we should take him to King Mandrake. Don't kill him now, he may have some valuable information with him."

Despite my on/off hatred of him, I found myself speaking those words that defended and protected him. Honestly, I just wanted things to go back to the way they would have without Nod in the picture. Every Boggan around looked at me before slowly agreeing and roughly dragging our captive towards home tree. Now there was only one more problem that I mentally asked myself.

"_What will father say?_"

* * *

( Nod's POV )

This is it? This is the end of brave Nod the Leafman? Goodbye Ronin, I've never said it aloud, but..thank you for everything. When my father died,..you stepped up and raised me now that I was an orphan. You encouraged me to follow in my dads footsteps even when I wasn't sure if I truly wanted that.

I am really sorry Ronin. I tried.

As the sword was raised over my head, I felt like crying but knew that I would look weak and cowardly. No. I was going on to that other forest after life, as a brave guy. How could I be so stupid as to let my grip on M.K fall? Of course she would try to escape and get me caught, she hated me...

Then, M.K said that one thing that made me question everything that she thought about me

"**NO!** No. W-we should take him to King Mandrake. Don't kill him now, he may have some valuable information with him."

Normally, I would think that this was a gesture for me to instead be kept alive and tortured for information pertaining Moonhaven's military tactics. But right now...it was stalling so that I wouldn't have my head sliced open like a pine nut. "Hey. _Hey!_" I tried to get M.K to look at me so I could try to read the emotions in her eyes, but she averted my face and looked everywhere but at me.

"Be **quiet** you little worm!" The shark-faced Boggan holding my right arm tightened his grip and I winced in pain. That was going to leave a big mark. It only took around five minutes for this whole squadron to arrive at the partial-tree that they called home. "I'll take him from here." M.K reached for my arm but the mosquito-Boggan on my left gave her a small glare, which she equally matched.

"I said, '_I'll take it from here._' Alright?" He reluctantly let go of my arm and M.K roughly grabbed my arm and pointed her blade into my back. "Walk. Now." I straightened up and began walking to my own death party. Surely, she wouldn't release me at the last second, but even though we weren't friends...we weren't enemies either.

She was a bit in a neutral group that wanted the war to stop and because of that, I secretly admired her. Yes. Okay. I'm-about-to-die-secret...I had a bit of a crush on the girl, despite her trying to kill me.

Before I knew it, we came to a large room with a throne on one side and a pool of toxic liquid on the other. There was also a door in the back of the room which I presumed was a closet.

"My child, I see you've brought a little guest...Bring him here!"

My child? Wait. Did he mean M.K? She was the King of Boggans' daughter, Mandrake's daughter?! "Father..he was snooping around the border and tried to take me captive. He may be useful to us, we should keep him alive." Mandrake gave a thoughtful look at me before looking to M.K, and then back to me.

"How could he possibly be useful? He's obviously only a rookie! Unless of course...you may secretly like him. I understand why too, you've been cooped up amongst, 'Monsters', and then someone like you appears...Look me in the eye and tell me that I'm joking. Would you?"

She looked him directly in the eyes but didn't say anything, I tried to release my hand from her iron grip, but she wouldn't let me escape. "I'm ashamed to admit that your words are half-true and half-false. But mainly false. I just don't believe in slaughtering an innocent when they're weaponless...defenseless..."

"Very well..I see your point dear, but I tend to disagree. In fact..I'd like to kill him, myself!" Leaping off of his rotten throne, he went for my head with his staff but to my great amazement... M.K blocked it and held her sword. "What are you doing girl?!"

"I'm doing what I keep telling myself. I recommend he at least get a weapon to defend himself!"

"You're starting to sound like a Leafman yourself!" Hey! Now that was pretty insulting...

"No! I **HATE **Leafmen!" ...Ouch.

He removed his sword from M.K's and began to walk away, allowing her to calm down a bit while I tried to control my hyperventilating. "Very well, defend him? You know our laws...I'm afraid I'll have to kill you to get to him." Unexpectedly, he did a side flip and lunged toward M.K's sword, knocking it out of her hands making it fall onto the floor with a clatter.

"_Oh dear, we're dead now..._"

* * *

( M.K's POV )

What had happened to father? He wasn't the same Boggan he had been when Dagda was still alive. This wasn't right, fighting him and I allowed him to hit my sword away. Despite how stupid this sounds, I trusted him not to kill me, so I held my ground and prepared myself for what was to come next.

"Go ahead. **Do it**. **Kill me**. That's right. You **can't**..."

I began to walk away with Nod in front of me when I heard him release a battle cry and charge at me. Defensively, I put my hands up and the most astonishing thing came from this gesture...

"Oh my rot..." Roots emerged from the ground and entangled Mandrake in a cage-like formation. I looked at my hands curiously and felt a strange sort of power within me, Nod opened his mouth to say something, but I grabbed his hand and jumped out of the window. The ground was farther down than I expected, but neither of us seemed to be harmed.

"**OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE THE QUEENS HEIR?!**"

"No, I am **NOT**!"

I couldn't be...if Mandrake hadn't killed the queen, my arrow could have hit her just as easily! Why would she choose me, a Boggan, to be her heir?

**Why?!**

_Why?_

* * *

**Yes, yes, yes. As some of you suspected...M.K seems to have become Queen Tara's heir. Why? You'll discover why soon enough. It seems that Nod is seriously a stalker and Mandrake just tried to kill his daughter. Which side will you choose to fight for M.K? Hmm? Happy first day on the New Year guys!**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	10. Broken Promises

**Sorry for the wait guys! I was on vacation and things got all wonky will the hotels' internet...Plus school is starting back up so things aren't going to be quite pretty. Here's chapter 10, chapter 11 should be up next week, this will mainly focus on Ronin's backstory and M.K's...scenario here.**

* * *

( Ronin's POV )

"**Just keep looking! Send out more soldiers to find him!**"

"Ronin! We have to keep soldiers here in case of an attack. We _can't_ send out any more of our Leafmen!"

In complete frustration, I turned to my right and punched the stone wall, causing a sharp pain to shoot through my left hand. Finn stepped back a bit away from me before looking at my hand and the maroon liquid dripping from it. He moved forward to try and help me but I just held my injured hand with my right hand.

"**Don't**! Just..._don't_."

He held his head down, almost ashamed of what he had just said to me, what choice he had to make to ensure Moonhaven's protection. What had I just done? How could I get angry at him when he was just thinking of everyone else's safety and not just an individual?

"_Ronin_. I-I'm sorry. We-" I immediately cut him off.

"No! I...I understand why you said what you said. _Alright_? It was the level-headed decision. It's just that, Nod has been missing for _hours_!"

True. Nod had been offering more than usual to go out and do some scouting around to ensure Boggans didn't cross our borders even more so. Ever since Tar-the queen had been killed, all of the Boggans had been rotting away some more of the forest to add onto their rotten swamp. I had been a bit surprised and suspicious at first, but soon it became a part of his daily routine.

Normally, he would have returned a few hours ago from the border but this time he was taking longer than usual. Night was falling and trust me, you did _**not**_ want to be out in the forest after the sun went down. Boggans weren't the only things you had to watch out for and be worried about at nighttime.

"I'm just worried about him. I can't _lose_ him too."

If anyone knew anything about me, its that I always somehow managed to loose the people that I cared about. My parents were assassinated by Boggans when I was one hundred and ten (10 human years) and the wife of a Leafman took me in and cared for me. Motivated to get revenge on those cursed Boggans, I began attending the training sessions and became a Leafman, meeting Nod's father.

Then Tara came into my life when I was training with her, besting her with both the sword and bow. We became natural rivals at first, childish quarrels were the only communication we ever had for years until we both finally turned one hundred and seventy (17 human years) and our rivalry turned into more of a friendly competition. Later on we actually became friends and soon after, we found ourselves dating each other.

When she was chosen to become the next queen, she was forced to stop Leafman training and I was told by General Carter not to see her anymore. Reluctantly, I broke up with her and she was heartbroken for weeks, she got over it eventually but it seemed that our romantic feeling towards each other still lingered. Nod's father comforted me and got my thoughts more into avenging the death of my parents.

On a dark mission to the swamp, my best friend was slaughtered at the hand of Mandrake, King of Wrathwood. Leaving his eighty year-old (8 human years) son alone, his mother having died of a disease a year earlier. Tara had just died a few days ago and now Nod was missing...how come death had a personal goal to take away everything and everyone I cared for?

"You know what? Call the Leafmen you sent out, back here. I'm going to find Nod on my own. He's my responsibility and I know all of his annoying habits, I can easily track him from where he was last seen."

I made my way out of the stone building towards the aviary where I kept my hummingbird.

"Ronin!" Finns voice called out from behind me just as I was about to snap out at him, his voice softened.

"_Good luck._"

* * *

( M.K's POV )

I _was_ freaking out, okay?! My father just tried to kill me and now this Leafman was jumping around and waving his arms, hopping in joy and doing some sort of jig/jumping thingy.

While he was doing his little...dance, I snuck away towards some thick bushes and dived into them, careful not to alert him to my hiding place. As soon as he finally calmed down and bothered to look around, I was carefully hidden and he began to frantically look around for any signs of where I had disappeared.

Slipping away undetected and reaching a clear cool pond, I jumped onto a few lily pads and finally took a seat on one when I was in the middle of the pond. Taking off my boots and letting my feet splash around in the water, I placed my mask beside me and took in a deep breath.

I don't know exactly how long I sat down on that lily pad, wishing that everything could return to how it was supposed to be. All around me, the night came alive as fireflies could be seen glowing and cricket chirps were clearly heard.

"How could _everything_ go so crazy in just a _few_ days?"

Remaining silent, I listened as if expecting the universe to give me an explanation as to why my entire built up life was crumbling. My future was set. Due to Dagda's untimely death, should anything happen to fath-Mandrake, I would become the new ruler of Wrathwood. I'd rebuild the Mandragorian Empire and the entire forest would be the beautiful grey color that I had always admired.

But this...this...betrayal, I guess you could call it. Hurt.

Mandrake was always supportive of all of my decisions and opinions on the forest and life. So..why was he deciding that my thoughts just didn't matter anymore? Even when I was little, he let me imagine and dream along with Dagda until we were teens.

**~Flashback~**

_"You're it! You're it!"_

_Tapping Dagda on the shoulder, I ran around the room, hiding behind a rather large stone. Daring a peek around one of the rounded sides, I could see his feet coming closer towards me._

_"M.K. I'm bored of this. Can't we play something else?"_

_Popping out from behind the rock I began arguing with him about how he wasn't any fun anymore. Let's face it. He was just getting into his teenage years, studying up on swords and weaponry while I tried to get him to play tag-and-go-seek with me. It was only a matter of time before father showed up in the room, having heard our loud bickering._

_"Now what's going on here?"_

_Dagda opened his mouth to most likely complain, but I beat him to his own explanation. "Dagda won't play tag-and-go-seek with me because he's becoming a big pinecone head!"_

_"I am not! Dad. I'm too old for those kinds of games. I want to do training!_

_"Look, both of you! You both make valid points in your explanation, but you forget that you have to respect each others choices. Now M.K, you want to play a gam and Dagda wants to train, you two like doing things together so here's what we'll do..."_

_After his explanation, we headed out to the archery training ground and made up a shooting game and we all had fun shooting targets. Father called it a compromise, basically a promise to listen to what the other has to say in an argument and make a decision based off of that. In other words...a deal._

**~End Flashback~**

Father made me a promise after that day, he told me that he would always protect Dagda and I from any harm. Yet, today he attacked me for trying to express my opinions of fighting and killing. The Boggan that had raised his whole life, when we spoke earlier it was like he was a different person entirely!

Some say that while rules were meant to be broken, as are promises...

Well I _clearly_ beg to differ!

* * *

**Ronin is looking for Nod, but Nod is looking for M.K, and M.K is looking for a way out of this nightmare for her. Will any of them ever find each other?! Wait, that doesn't make any sense..oh wells! Chapter 11 will be able to explain EVERYTHING! Until then...**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	11. Regrets & Miracles

**Really sorry for the loooong hold-up guys. Having minor writers block on this story and homework is flooding into my room. Seriously guys...I'm drowning here. Positive this week? It's going to be my birthday in a few days! Hooray! So..here's the long-awaited Chapter 11! **

* * *

( Mandrake's POV )

_What have I done?_

I had just tried to kill my daughter the only sure thing in my life that was left now. _This wasn't supposed to happen_, I kept repeating to myself over and over. She must hate me now and think of me as a monster...just like the Leafmen.

Wait a minute, she defied _me_ by defending that Leafboy and refusing my command to step aside. Had she now become a traitor? I wasn't sure about anything anymore. How had things gone so haywire from the day of the pod ceremony?

_This wasn't supposed to happen._ None of it was.

Closing my eyes and replaying all of the thoughts in my head, I tried to envision things if she hadn't defended that boy or if I hadn't attacked her. She would have helped me rebuild the Wrathwood empire, become Queen of the Boggans, and eventually conquer other neighboring kingdoms in the forest. Of course there were...complications now.

First off, she was apparently the new Queen of Moonhaven and therefore now destined to lead those pathetic Jinn whether she wanted to or not. I had seen what she did..blocking my attack with those plants, defending herself from me. My only question now, was had she been hiding it from me or had she _just_ discovered this power herself?

Alright. _Now_ I was getting a headache and I needed to take a break from all of these puzzling questions.

"**Skeets!**"

The mosquito flew into the room and bowed at my feet, his sword placed down on the floor in front of him as he kneeled. "You summoned me King Mandrake?" I let out a regretful and sigh, the order I was about to give wouldn't sound as good as it did in my mind.

"Tell the others...that if they see M.K anywhere...-"

He seemed to lean closer towards me, looking for me to finish the sentence I had started.

"...-they are to **kill** her." He immediately got up and picked up his hummingbird-bone sword and picked it up.

"Bu-bu-but sir-!"

"That is an order! Do you understand? M.K is a traitor to the Boggans...therefore, she can not be trusted."

Opening his mouth to say more, no words escaped and he tightly shut his mouth, looking at the ground with some sadness in his eyes. I knew for a fact that he, like everyone else in Wrathwood, had a small soft-spot regarding M.K. It wouldn't be easy for him if he was to be the one to come across her and be forced to kill her.

I hated the idea myself but I had absolutely no choice now, my hands were bound by tradition and Mandragora's law.

"Now...Go. **GO!**"

He scurried out of the room and flew off to tell the other Boggans who were most likely out training. Watching after him I looked at the wall he flew past and saw that small carving in the wood that I could recognize from many feet away. When M.K had been younger, she entertained herself by carving into the rotten wood, one day she asked if she could draw a bat on the wall and I allowed her to do so.

Encouraging her to embrace the Boggan-side within her.

Even now, it was still here, just another reminder of what I was doing to my remaining child. I could always take back the order, but another part of me, was battling myself for control. The evil side and the good side constantly conflicted and I never knew what I might do. Oh Mandragora..._what have I done?_

"M.K, I'm _so_ sorry..."

* * *

( Nod's POV )

"Help. Help, help, help. Help..."

This was just _dumb_.

Having looked around for M.K, I didn't see the root I tripped over when I landed into that hole that may or may not have been surrounded by skeletons of mice. This was obviously the home of a snake and _if_ I was lucky, I'd survive long enough to see the sun. The hole was too deep and steep to climb or jump out of, so..I was basically stuck down here.

From deeper inside of the large tunnel system, I could hear a hissing noise, quiet yet full of warning.

_Hisssss..._

"Oh crap. This isn't good. Not good at _all_."

I had tried to whistle for my bird earlier, but she must have been too far away from me, or something happened to her. Whatever it was, no one was going to be able to come to my rescue this time unless a miracle happened.

_Hissss...!_

Louder and louder, the hisses were coming closer and I was starting to lost faith in myself. Was this it? I'd die here all alone in a hole...eaten by a snake. No. I was a Leafman to the very end so I'd fight till I breathed my last breath. Pulling out my sword and standing into a battle pose, I held it threateningly in front of me as if it would increase my bravery.

_Hissss!_

The snake finally revealed itself and threateningly bared its fangs at me, showing along its dark brown body, several scars and scratches. Assumedly from some sort of fight, either with another creature entirely or some other snake. It lashed out its tail to try and hit me but I jumped over it and aimed for its body with my sword.

Slithering out of my way, my sword lodged itself into the dirt and I frantically worked to pull it out while the snake charged.

Too late.

I let the sword out of my grip and jumped onto the head of the snake, angering it as it tried to snap at me. Pulling out my emergency knife, I plunged it into the side of the snake and heard it hiss with pain and hurt. Now I just made it even more intent on killing me, I realized this too late as the snake hit me with its tail, knocking me to the ground.

Crawling over to obtain my sword from the clump of dirt it remained wedged in, I tried pulling it as hard as I could but it would not come out. I felt something grab me from around the waist and throw me up into the air, hurling me into one of the dirt walls.

"What _I_ wouldn't give to have Bufo's thugs beating me up right now..."

I silently complained. The snake had me now in its grip and he didn't seem as though he'd soon let go. My entire body was being squeezed by the strength of this serpent, my breaths were getting quicker and less frequent. The terrible thought crossed my mind that soon I wouldn't be able to breathe at all if the snake continued on.

**_HISSSS!_**

He opened his mouth to show me his fangs, as if he were showing me my future through a crystal ball, only...I didn't want to die.

"Ronin...I-...I'm...sorry for...giving you...such a...hard...time...I...wish...I could...have...been...a...better-"

I didn't get to finish as my lungs read "empty" and my eyes rolled back into my head, leaving me unconscious and perfect snake food. This really was the end. Ha, and I never got to tell M.K...never mind. Like I said before...it would take a miracle for someone to be able to find me by now.

* * *

...

...

...?

My eyes slowly adjusted to the light filtering the room I was in from a small window by the bed I was in.

Who knows how long it was since the snake...wait. The snake! I looked around my surroundings and breathed out a sigh of relief when I noticed my surroundings were _not_ the inside of a large snake. I had a few large cuts and scrapes from my brief fight with than vile creature but other than that, I was pretty much okay.

"Huh. Looks like _I'm_ okay. Now where am I?"

Trying to sit up in the small leafy bed I was in, there was a loud cracking noise and I let out a loud gasp.

"Ouch! Just kidding, _not_ okay!"

Had some of my ribs been broken? Probably most likely because of how tight that dumb snake had gripped me. Checking my surroundings, I noted the room seemed to be made out of wood, judging by the visible rings in the wood. There was also a pile of supplies in the corner consisting of some berries, canteens of water, and a few clothes and blankets.

My armor was leaning in a corner along with my sheathed sword and I was thankful that I always wore my civilian clothes under my armor. By the entrance of the room, concealed with thick vines, stood a sword in the corner and I smiled to myself.

_I was actually saved by a miracle._

Hummingbird wings could be heard flying closer and closer until they stopped and the sound of footsteps could be heard walking towards the entrance. The curtain of vines was pulled back by a bloodied and bruised hand, followed by a familiar face that gave me a weak smile.

"You're awake. Good. For a minute there, I thought you wouldn't be able to..you broke a few ribs. Now, get up. I'll try and help you but we need to get you to proper medical care.."

* * *

**Ooh! Cliffhanger! Who exactly saved Nod and why? As we can see, Mandrake seems to be having a mental war with himself and the Good, Fatherly Mandrake seems to be losing. Nod got himself beat up pretty good and...I've sorta lost track of M.K...Oh well! Next chapter will be up in a bit! Again, sorry for the wait!**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	12. Change of Mind

**Ready to find out who saved Nod? Okay! Sorry for the long-ish wait guys, like I said..I'll probably only be able to update once a week unless homework is like, "Go for it!" OR I'm feeling Super-Duper-Inspired! Yeah, M.K seems to not be sure where her life is heading now...Oh wells, enough with the rambling..Chapter 12!**

* * *

( M.K's POV )

I have no idea how long I had sat on that lily pad feeling sorry for myself about what had happened. Night had fallen and only the light of the full moon along with some fireflies, illuminated the darkness. Taking my feet out of the water, some small aquatic plants seemed to come and gather where I had my foot hovering above the water. Cautiously, I took a gentle step onto them.

The small plants worked together to support my weight and I gave a surprised laugh. Another step, and another until I found myself in the middle of the vast pond. The nearest lily pad a few steps away.

"This is _amazing..._" I whispered to no one in particular.

I was _literally_ walking on water! Returning to the lily pad that had my boots and mask on them I put on my shoes and stared at the face of my mask for a few seconds before it slipped from my fingers and was swallowed by the dark waters. The mask was now useless to me, I had no further need for it now that I was...finally "_out_" of Wrathwood.

Moving my hands around in wild motions while running around on the water, the entire pond seemed to light up. Small pods began to bloom, releasing soft flickering lights that swirled about in their spots. The trees leaned in closer to watch me as I moved about, not worrying at all for the first time in hours.

Experimenting with this newfound ability turned out to be a lot more fun than I would have given it credit for. Taking off the short shrew cape that always hung around my shoulders, I felt a weight lifted from them and let it sink into the water. Summoning some leafy vines closer, I formed a simple green dress much like my current one, only without tears at the end and vines wrapped around my arms much like arm bracelets.

Now I _really_ felt like an outsider to the Boggan-Society.

"This is...a _lot_ better than I thought it would be..." I smiled to myself and allowed a small firefly to sit in my lap while I gently held it. Then out of the forest was a loud ear-piercing scream, quite girly if I may add, that sounded in trouble. Of course, it also sounded...familiar.

Nod?

Second after, there was silence until a monotone plead for help also emerged from the forest and I rolled my eyes in annoyance at the tone of the voice, extremely whiny.

"**Help. Help, help, help. Help.**"

Really? Was he just lamely calling out for someone to save his little Leafboy butt, again? Ugh. Whatever...he wasn't my problem. Another scream. Louder and more...filled with fear along with a deep hissing noise.

Uh-oh...this _wasn't_ good.

Despite my initial intention to ignore him, I grabbed a small vine and wrapped it around my waist where it securely hung on, my two katanas fitting perfectly to my surprise. Running towards the source of the sound and not really relying on sight much, I almost fell into the hole. Looking downwards into the snake pit, I could see a small figure wrapped up in the coils of the serpent.

By and by, Nod was losing consciousness and for a second I didn't think he would live after this. What did I mean, "_after this_"? Well, being the person I am, for some reason unknown to me, I practically condemned my own death by jumping into the hole to save that dumb brain. I pulled out both swords and leaped into the hole where the snake turned to glance at me.

In midair, I slashed my swords at the side of the reptile and two large cuts, that just looked like they'd healed, were opened back up. It hissed (no pun intended) in pain and let Nod go, instead coming for me, fangs and all. Focusing more on defense than offense in this case, I couldn't have myself be caught just to face the same fate as Nod.

"You have _so,_ **got to go!**"

I slashed again but this time it used its tail to slap one of my katanas out of my hand. Spotting several partially buried roots, I raised my hand and made a pulling gesture, raising the roots and grabbing the middle of the snake, holding it tightly so as not to be able to move. Continuing this, it only took a few more minutes to fully tighten the bonds and subdue the snake.

"Come on Nod..you can still walk!" I threw Nod over my shoulder and jumped successfully out of the hole, his weight almost dragging me back down into the pit we had just emerged from. "Geez Leafboy! You're _really_ heavy!" I silently snickered to myself because basically, I could say anything I wanted to him right now and he wouldn't be able to hear me.

Dragging him through more of the forest, I found what looked like a safe and healthy tree with a partially hollowed out hole in the side. Looking around inside, it was a circular room with dirt floors and a nice entrance when I moved some vines over the door, throwing some supplies in the corner I smiled at Nod but then frowned, he needed medical attention, and fast.

"This place looks safe enough..why don't you get some rest? I'll get some things set up for ya before I go and look for a bird."

Gathering some dryish moss from outside, I made a small make-shift bed that I put in the corner of the wooden "room". Moving Nod off of the floor and onto the bed, I noted that his armor had traces of snake venom on it and it would be lethal if it remained. Yes, it was pretty awkward removing his light-weight armor and I was truly relieved to see he wore his "_casual_" clothes underneath.

Would've been a _really_ awkward situation for me!

"I'll be back soon Noddy." I gave one last glance at him before I shut the vine curtains to the entrance and jumped up the trees looking for any kind of bird.

_Anything_! **Anything** at all! Yes, I was _that_ desperate.

On my right side a small chirp could be heard a few feet away and I hopped over branches and slid under leaves to reach the source of the sound. Shooing away a small cricket I let my entire face drop when I realized it was just a hummingbird. Why did it have to be a hummingbird?

"You know what? I think I _could_ go for an old robin or a bluejay actually..."

* * *

( Ronin's POV )

I landed my mount and a Leafman led my hummingbird towards the aviary while I practically dragged myself over to a small stone where I sat down. Searching throughout the forest all night long, attacked by Boggans at least five times and being chased by bats as well. Being honest with myself, I was losing hope that I'd never see Nod again...

"Still no sign of him?" Finn took a seat beside me and draped a leafy blanket over my shoulders, handing me a cup of nectar. I took a few sips of the warm liquid as it ran down my throat before putting the cup down and wrapping the blanket tighter around my shoulders.

"I looked _all_ night, he wasn't anywhere in sight which he usually is when he panics..."

I remember the time he had run away from Moonhaven to try and do his tLeafmen raining in "natural" surroundings. When I went out looking for him, he almost started a forest fire with a small piece of glass he had found. Never again had he tried to run away after that brief experience in the forest. Of course, where was he now?

"**General Ronin! There's a hummingbird coming towards us! Nod's on it!**"

Standing up straight and tall, I looked towards the direction where the Leafman was pointing and saw his words were true. Steering was an unfamiliar girl while Nod sat behind her with his arms around her waist. "Nod...Nod!" I ran as fast as I could towards the landing strip and when the bird landed Nod dismounted and put his hands in front of him and I stopped inches away from the boy.

"Might wanna save the hugging and scolding for later Ronin...I have a few broken ribs, okay?"

The strange girl with the red hair got off of the bird and moved over to the side saddle where she began unpacking some things. I gestured for Nod to lean in and I whispered in his ear. "Who in the name of Nim is that?!" His face was expressionless for a minute before a smile took over, a cocky smile...oh dear.

"Just so you know, this is the young lady that on three occasions had fought against me. She was with the Boggans, fighting for them until they captured me...Mandrake was going to _kill_ me Ronin. She saved my life by putting _hers_ on the line."

This entire time, I was listening intently and couldn't believe that this young girl had just been Boggan General a few hours ago. Finally unpacking the things from the side-satchel, she put them on the ground before turning to walk away but Nod's loud and clear announcement, stopped her in her tracks and made me speechless.

"By the way Ronin...**She's ****_also_**** the new Queen of Moonhaven!**" The girl spun around and grabbed Nod by the collar, fiercely whispering something to him which I assumed was a threat of some kind. The surrounding Leafmen started moving closer to her, examining her like some rare flower, questioning her existence and why they had never seen her before. Getting defensive, she pulled two katanas out from behind her and held them up.

"**Whoa,** whoa, whoa! **M.K!** M.K, it's alright, these guys aren't going to hurt you! You can trust them."

"**No.** I actually _can't_...I _can't_ trust _anyone_ _anymore_.."

With that, one of my men got too close and she slashed out at him, he fell backwards and quickly began to crawl away. Two more of my men ran forward but she jumped up above them and held the hilts her swords right at them. They were moving to fast to stop and she hit them on the helmet "protected" heads and they fell to the ground.

"**Men! Don't attack!** Look...M.K? Was it? We just want to help yo-"

"**Can it General Ronin!** I'm not staying here, I only came by to drop off your little Leafboy here." She gestured to Nod before continuing, "If you **actually** think that the Boggan-Girl is going to stay here to be Moonhavens Queen, you've got another thing coming old man!"

She backflipped onto the hummingbird and flicked the reins, causing it to take off towards the denser parts of the forest. Nod seemed to watch after her with an almost, hurt, expression on his face.

"Ronin? Should I send some men after her?"

I turned to see my old friend who had a look of pure concern graced upon his features.

"No. If we want her to come to trust us, we have to let her do things her own way and not forcefully bring her here. But we must also be careful. There is the possibility that she could abuse her powers and destroy both Moonhaven **and** Wrathwood in her...rage."

My only hope, was that in time...she'd come to her senses and become the person she was meant to be.

_Moonhaven's Queen._

* * *

**Oh M.K, I'm surprised at you. I thought you'd really turned a corner after your father tried to kill you and you saved Nod. Well, it looks like M.K is getting used to her powers somewhat and Ronin is trying to be more understanding of the situation. Next chapter will be up semi-soon!**

**§~Amethyst~§**


	13. Going Neutral

**Things are getting ****_really_**** crazy now! It's basically Ronin is chasing after Nod, Nod is chasing after M.K, and M.K is just trying to get away from it all. Sorry for the wait and sorry if this chapter seems short, just another filling till the dramatic next chapter! **

* * *

( Nod's POV )

I could hear Ronin faintly yelling at me, but I blocked out all the noise around me to the point of hearing nothing. Whatever he said or did, he was not going to be able to stop me from going after the girl that had just attacked his men. She saved me, right? There was something inside of her that I told myself I could trust, that could change for the better.

Closing my eyes for a second and taking in a deep breath, I let all of the sounds around me cave in. "**Nod! Are you even listening to me?!**"

"Actually Ronin, I wasn't. _Big_ surprise, right?" I said this with a hint of sarcasm and one hundred percent sincerity. Turning my back on him, I headed towards the aviary to get another hummingbird, walking at first before breaking into a run when I heard Ronin calling after me.

"I'm going to bring her back and you _can't_ stop me!" I called over my shoulder, just making it to the entrance of where we kept all of our mounts. Grabbing the reins of a reddish-green hummingbird, I led it out into the sunlight and jumped onto its saddle, flicking the reins.

"**NOD! GET BACK HERE! THAT GIRL IS DANGEROUS!**"

I was well aware that M.K had the potential to kill me, whether it be by her sword or her powers over nature. However I was willing to face this sort of consequence if it meant helping a girl that was confused about where her life was headed.

_Hold on_. That sounded like something Ronin would say!

Looking down towards the ground, I could see Ronin's small form frantically trying to get a saddle and reins on another hummingbird. Urging my bird to go faster, we zipped through the trees and under large branches passing over several small ponds. A far-off figure came in sight on another bird, a few more feet in front of me and I landed on a branch concealed with leaves.

"What are you doing M.K?" I muttered to myself. She did't have the hummingbird with her anymore and I questioned what she had done with it.

Completely moving aside the leaf, I was hiding behind, I watched as the red-haired girl I had come to know waved her hands around, untangling vines and unfurling small blossoms. Looking down at the ground she held her palm upwards and curled her fingers inwards, causing a sunflower to lean more towards her. She grabbed one of the sunflower seeds and one of her swords, slicing it into pieces and giving it to a cardinal.

"There you go big guy. Want some more? Don't worry, I'll take some more for you when we reach-"

The sound of a twig snapping could clearly be heard.

She promptly stopped speaking and stood straight up, turning her head to the left and then to the right. Green eyes, scanning the area around any sign of someone else around. I realize that I had unconsciously shifted my weight onto my right foot, a small twig underneath it.

"Oops."

I got up and turned to fly away as quickly as I could but a vine wrapped around my ankle and flipped me upside down.

"What are you doing here Leafboy? I told you once, and I'll tell you again. Leave." She turned around and unfurled a fist, releasing her control over the vines, therefore causing me to land face-first into the bark of the tree. "Ouch M.K. You hurt me..."

"If you don't leave me alone, I'll just-!" She stopped mid-sentence and let out a long stressed sigh. "I'm not going back with you. Not now, not ever! Just because I'm not welcome into Wrathwood anymore, doesn't mean I'll just come running and crying to Moonhaven!" Crossing her arms she shifted her weight onto her left leg and looked away from me.

"M.K..."

"No. I'm not going to choose a side in this little war anymore. No good side, no bad, I'll just be...neutral. You wouldn't understand. Just leave me be. I like being on my own." Things seemed to move in slow motion a vine wrapped around her arm when she held out her hand and lifted her away through the branches. The look on her face was tough but vulnerable, angry yet heartbroken.

It was this moment that I took the time to try to envision myself in her shoes. Raised by people that taught you growth and life were evil things and that only rot and decay could be considered good. You didn't get to choose if you wanted to participate in a never-ending war and there was no one around like you, forcing you to hide yourself away from the rest of the world.

During her..."_confession_" to me, I hadn't even gotten any real words in, having been overthinking what I would say. The words I had decided to say to her came out too late for her to hear, and I'd always regret that.

"M.K. You're right. I don't know what you're going through this very moment, but I'm _sure_ that if we work together, I can help you get through this. _Please_, stay in Moonhaven..."

I whispered the last parts, hoping and praying that no one else would hear them.

"_Stay with me..._"

* * *

( M.K's POV )

The vine gently let go from around my wrist and I hopped onto the back of Leif, who took off the moment I clicked my tongue. Gently holding onto his feathers, we moved farther and farther away from where we had previously been.

Why were things so complicated? I wish it had just stopped before Dagda died. I felt water on my face and looked up into the sky, expecting to see rainclouds or mist of some sort.

There was nothing in the sky. For the first time since Dagda's death, I was crying.

**~Flashback~**

_"Dagda! Slow down!" I tried to speed up but I couldn't go as fast as he could, climbing trees had always been his strength anyway. Hearing my request, he complied and stopped for a minute on a branch, extending a hand for me to take. _

_"Come on M.K! You've gotta see this or we'll miss it!"_

_"Why are we climbing up here anyways? Won't father get mad?" Dagda gave a small scoff and gave me a reassuring look. "Don't worry M.K, we only get in trouble if we get caught!" I took this into consideration and it made some sense to me, so I slowly nodded my head to let him know what he said got to me_

_We went up to several more branches before stopping and walking along to the edge of the branch, jumping off and onto a new artificial terrain. "Hurry up! Come on, we're almost there!" Sliding down the strange rubbery surface, we landed on a windowsill and looked inside._

_The Stomper home was normally forbidden to enter, but if there was something inside we needed, we would enter. There were literally collections of artifacts, both Leafman and Boggan. The old guy who lived in the house was obsessed with finding the Leafmen but knew absolutely nothing about the Boggans. Mainly because we didn't fly right in front of the security cameras located at the edge of the forest._

_That's something I always disliked about the Leafmen, instead of hiding and trying to hide the existence of our world, they practically egged on the Stomper. _

_"M.K! Look!" _

_Dagda's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I watched as the Stomper slowly walked across the large room. Eventually taking a seat in front of several computer monitors and plugging in several cords. "Dagda. What'll happen if he ever finds out about us?"_

_"Well M.K, I guess he'd try to trap us and experiment on us. Maybe show us to other Stompers. They'd all come out into the forest and try to catch us all, or something like that..."_

_A loud noise emerged from inside and I turned from Dagda to see the Stomper turn on some sort of box with buttons and knobs on it. Some sort of sound came from the strange device, something called music? I'd later learn that this strange musical box was called a radio, eventually making a guitar for myself and playing a song that I'd hear occasionally._

_**Every day I want to freeze frame**_

_**Scrambling my sleep to keep this fragile frame**_

_**From the wind, from the driving rain**_

_**Soon as it begins it begins to change its strange changes**_

_"We should go home now. Come on M.K." However I wasn't listening ti Dagda as I studied the face of the Stomper. Why did he seem like someone I used to know? Of course I'd remember if I had ever met a Stomper._

_"M.K!"_

_"I'm coming Dagda!" I took one more look over my shoulder before I grabbed Dagda's hand and we jumped off on the window sill down onto the porch. "Let's get back to Wrathwood before dad finds out we were gone."_

_"Ok."_

_As he ran to the end of the porch and did a spiraled front-flip off the porch and onto the ground, I noticed several sunflower seeds on a small table. Putting my cape in front of one of the cameras for a millisecond, I grabbed two of the seeds and jumped off the porch to catch up to Dagda._

**~End Flashback~**

Happy content times like those seemed to have been centuries ago, now that things were changed. I found it ironic how the name of the song I'd sing at least once a week was called Same Changes, yet...everything was changing.

No. Correction. Everything _had already_ _changed._

* * *

**Whoo! Nod's getting his lovesick puppy/fanboy mode, ON! Ronin's still trying to get through to Nod's thick skull and Mandrake will be making another appearance soon! Heads up, M.K will be having a few more flashbacks and it will be...tragic! Anywho, until the next chapter...bye-bye...**

**§~Amethyst~§**


End file.
